The Emperor
by lostsword
Summary: Luke Skywalker is the Son of High Lord Anakin Skywalker, the second most powerful man in the Galactic Empire. LukexMara LeiaxHan
1. Chapter 1: Waking Prince

_The Emperor_

Chapter 1: Waking Prince

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN STAR WARS OR IT'S FRANCHISES, etc...**

**A/N: This will be AU, very little will relate to the Star Wars universe in terms of the original trilogy or the original Saga's plot line. Feel free to complain to me at any time.**

The sun lazily rose over the city planet of Coruscant, warming the capital city district whose citizens had already been up since...well Coruscant never really slept. Stormtroopers could be seen doing their rounds, keeping the security of the planet secure or just preforming drills in the large courtyards that dotted the massive capital district of the huge planet. Courtiers could be seen running about the more important and larger buildings, running messages to and from, doing errands for their bosses, arranging deals in shady alleys and what not. The common citizens could be found going to or leaving from their jobs, conversing, going to watch the illegal pod races, or finding the nearest bar or some other form of entertainment.

None of this mattered to those of the Imperial Palace though. The palace never shut it's lights off, not for once second. Politicians were constantly seeking an audience with the Emperor or one of the Emperor's Lords or the High Lord or one of the Moffs, the list went on...

Perhaps it would be best to explain things a bit? You look a bit lost. Maybe you were carbon frozen for a few years? Oh you were? Well such things can't be helped...

The old republic is a thing of the past, the Galactic Empire exists now. With it's large armies and legions spreading across the galaxy, it rules with a iron fist. It's Emperor, Emperor Palpatine, the former Chancellor of the Old Republic, had created the beautiful creation that was the Empire when the Republic failed to defend against the CIS, the Confederacy of Independent Systems.

With the eradication of the Jedi Order, Palpatine had created the Council of Lords, a mixture of former Generals, Admirals and the strongest of his new Imperial Knights. He had named his favorite Lord, Anakin Skywalker, the High Lord and had declared throughout the empire that the newly appointed High Lord would only answer to the Emperor, making him a very important man in mere seconds. It might have also helped that he was named Heir to the Throne...

But we'll get back to that later. This story is not about the history of the Empire but about the rise of High Lord Skywalker's son, Prince Luke Skywalker, and how he became the Emperor of the Galactic Empire...

"Mornin Sire!" A cheerful, if slightly drunk sounding voice said as a door swished open and the blinds of the Imperial Suite slid up.

A groan came from within the suite, the source was Prince Skywalker. Sprawled out on his expensive, thick mattress and wrapped up in royal black sheets of the finest silk, the Prince was barely awake as he made a gesture with his hand, causing the blinds to close on their own.

Captain Han Solo had served the Empire for years, he had seen some pretty nasty action in combat, either against pirates or rebels. He had one of the roughest childhoods he knew of and he had seen multiple close friends die when they should have lived. But _none_ of that was as frustrating or as a pain in his Corellian hind quarters as dealing with Luke Skywalker, scion of the most powerful force sensitive in the known galaxy and heir to the Imperial Throne.

The boy, only a bit younger then Solo himself, at eighteen years old, was capable of manipulating things that Solo would never have thought possible before he was assigned this post. Sure he had _heard_ it was possible but he had never _seen_ it done. And seeing is believing.

"Come on kid, Your father wants you to be up and ready for the council meeting today, so no sleeping in for you" Han tried to reason and heard a few half understandable words before the youth was rising out of his cocoon of sheets. Leaving the room as the kid headed to the fresher, Han waited outside in the common room or living room of the suite. After awhile he heard the shower shut off and Luke emerged dressed in a rather stunning and extravagant black outfit consisting of black pants, a military style dress shirt and black boots with a matching cape that had a blue stone broach holding it in place over his right shoulder. There were a few gold gems scattered on the outfit, like the golden gems placed on each belt loop or the small ones wrapping around the edges of his knuckle length combat gloves. He also had an odd symbol on his belt, which Han knew from previous experience was a Imperial Knight symbol.

It showed three figures holding up lightsabers before themselves, crossing the blades. Behind the crossed blades was the Imperial symbol and below the crossed blades was the tiniest of script, which basically said "The Protectors of Order", however it had been written in some dead language, and Han was not important enough, or even a member of the order, to know what the language was. However Luke happened to let him know what it meant due to their history together.

"You look annoyed" Han commented on the slight scowl on the kids face as the two exited the suite and headed down the palace halls towards the Council Chamber, which was located only a single floor below the Emperor's Chambers. However said chambers consisted of the last ten floors of the palace's top spire, so it wasn't something to get incredibly exited about.

"Well wouldn't you?" Luke asked as he gestured to the Captain, referring to his dislike of wearing fancy outfits. Han had to agree with him, after all, he was more likely to be caught in a white shirt, jacket and some old pants as well as half drunk then be caught dead in anything that could buy a few star ships with it's price. He was barely used to the Captain's uniform he was wearing now...

"Whatever" Luke muttered when Han didn't respond as they came to the doorway of the council chamber lift.

Standing on either side of the lift to the chamber were a pair of Imperial Knights. They were clad in simple black and gray robes with lightsabers clearly hanging off their dark brown leather belts. The one on the left, a human male had a completely shaven head, revealing several scars on the sides and one on the top. The one on the right was a human female and her raven black hair cascaded down her back, however despite her beauty she could most likely kill Han in a matter of two, maybe three seconds.

Both snapped to attention as Luke and Han passed them, however it was a more casual attention then a full military attention. They knew Luke, and there was nothing he hated more then his fellow knights treating him like he was something important, when he really had no rank whatsoever.

"This better not be some stupid meeting about more rebel raids in the Mid Rim" Luke complained as the lift began to rise. It would go up two floors, putting them officially in the Emperor's Chambers, or Zone as some called it, and deposit them in the council chamber; a small dome like structure that stuck out of the side of the spire, looking out across the city. The interior was designed in the Imperial colors, Gold, Black, Gray and Scarlet. The floors were carpets colored a fascinating gold with black highlights, while the walls were a dull gray with scarlet highlights with paintings and maps and projectors hooked in.

In the center of the room there was a large gray table with tablets for each Lord, as well as a holographic projector set up inside the center. Black chairs with red and gold cushioned seats were placed up before each tablet, with the name of the Lord that owned the tablet and seat placed on both the back of the seat and on the top of the headrest of the seat as well.

Windows lined the entire room except the back side where the Imperial Palace was connected to the room and where the lift was. No guards were allowed in the room and all communicators were shut off during the meetings. A special metal had been mined and put in the walls and fragmented into the glass to make sure that no transmissions could enter or leave the chamber for optimal secrecy as well.

"Well the rebels are getting nastier, but with your father allowing more alien species into the Empire, judging them by their loyalty, we're cutting the rebellions down each day. Soon no one will be able to appose the Emperor" Han assured him as the lift opened and the two walked in.

"I hope so" Luke said, sounding genuinely concerned. The pair approached the rest of the council, which was almost full formed by now and Luke took his seat. Han, being his Adjunct, stood at a loose attention behind Luke. Aside from Han, there was no one in the entire room who was not a Lord. Luke was something of an exception as well, as he had never been granted the title of Lord, however by the subtle hints the Emperor every so often gave, he was to be treated as if he was.

"Son" Anakin said as he left a hushed conversation with two of the other Lords and came to stop next to his son's seat.

"Father" Luke said as he turned his head to face his father. The High Lord was garbed in the black and gold robes of the Imperial High Lord. He had, like almost everyone else in the room, a light coating of jewels and gems splashed onto his outfit, however he had the smallest amount, including his son. Anakin had always been a conservative user when it came to items, the only time he had ever done anything or worn anything overly flashy was when he married Luke's mother. And the results of that marriage might be why he never did anything extravagant ever again.

"I see Captain Solo was able to get you out of your suite" Anakin remarked as he nodded to the expressionless Captain.

"Yes Father, however next time you have a meeting, could it be at a decent hour of the day, like maybe two or three in the afternoon?" Luke asked.

Anakin chuckled at the idea and turned to leave. "The young..." He muttered to himself as he said goodbye to his son before going to his seat. That was one of the other perks of being the High Lord. His seat, unlike the black ones with their scarlet and gold cushions, was a slightly larger, more elevated, gray chair that had completely gold colored cushions, instead of the sprinkled gold cushions of the regular lords seats. His chair also had several panels on it with controls that could manipulate various parts of the room, the table, the other chairs as well as a few other hidden objects.

Taking his seat, he called out to the rest of the Council, which had finally assembled completely. "The reason I have called you all here today is because of a rather important piece of information we have just learned about." Anakin stated as he used a control at his seat, causing the holographic projector to spring to life. Immediately a planet exploded into view over the table before them all.

The planet was mostly forest covered, however it had several large oceans and lakes, as well as a large swamp in the northern hemisphere of the planet. What drew everyone's attention however was the somewhat large desert that occupied a portion of one of the forest covered landmasses in the southern hemisphere. It did not appear natural and plainly seemed to be out of place, like it had grown their by some other design.

"This is Tryysk, the final resting place of, according to Imperial Intelligence, the Sith Lord Graӓkkan Saawl" Anakin stated as several of his Lords looked confused, while others, who had either read the report or were old enough to have heard the legends during the Old Republic's time, nodded their heads.

"And I am assuming you plan to have us collect his archive data sire?" Najia Toosga asked as she placed her hands together by the fingertips as she leaned back in her chair slightly.

Graӓkkan Saawl was known for two things during his time as a Sith Lord long ago. One, for being the first Jedi to leave the reformed order during it's time with the Old Republic and join the Sith. And two, for becoming the most well known collector of Sith _and_ Jedi data. He had stored all of it, according to legend, aboard his vessel, the _Siliquent Scythe_, however the ship, and it's owner, had vanished during the Great Hyperspace War, a few months before the war ended and the Sith were eradicated. It was thought to have been found before, but as always, the rumors were turned false.

"And Intelligence is telling us that this is the place where the ship crashed? Supposedly?" Luke asked as several old, _very_ old, images appeared near the planet, showing old sketches and even a few holo-pictures of the ship and Saawl.

"Yes, It took awhile, but we believe the vessel, due to the logs of several ancient ships that were searched by intelligence, crashed there due to an unnatural force storm. We will still send a team to investigate, whether or not it is really there" Anakin said, silencing any objections to the matter. "Now, let us turn to the matter of..."

"Ugh, remind me never to go with you to those things again..."Han said as they exited the lift, passing the two guards, who again came to attention.

"Hey you wake me up, you have to suffer through the meetings with me" Luke said with a slight grin. The pair entered another lift and began to descend the many floors of the palace, heading for the docking bays in the middle where they could board Luke's private transport. Being the Heir to the Throne, he had his own small private hanger next to the larger ones open to the rest of the Imperial Elite.

"Which is why I pray I'll be reassigned soon" Han answered with a grin of his own as they finally made it to the hangers and headed over towards the guarded entrance to the private hangers.

"Your an atheist" Luke pointed out as they passed the guards, who also came to attention as they passed. They, unlike the Knights however, saluted. Luke hid his scowl.

"True" Han agreed.

The duo entered Luke's private hanger and moved past several of his single person fighters and a few of the more luxurious cruisers before stopping at one near the end of the short line. It was an old airspeeder, painted a faded red, it had to be overhauled and fixed up a bit by Luke, but he had found the thing to be a prized part of his adventures and had kept fixing it up long after it should have been dismantled.

"I still think your crazy for owning that thing, let alone _flying_ it" Han said as they strapped into the airspeeder.

"Comments to yourself Captain" Luke said with a victorious smile as the engines began to roar to life. The hanger shield shut off after Luke hit the command switch and then they were roaring out of the hanger. They made it less then two feet out before Luke cut the engines, throwing them into a straight dive down the side of the Palace.

"YOUR A CRAZY CRAZY KID!" Han screamed as they began to spin. The engines cut back on and they accelerated closer to one of the smaller buildings near the Palace. It looked like the headquarters of the Stormtrooper Corps. But then again, it could also be the Imperial Museum of History, either way, Han did _not_ want to find out if it meant he was going to be a smear on the walls!

At the last second, right before they would have hit whatever building it was, Luke pulled up. They actually _hit_ the roof, leaving sparks as the airspeeder slid across the roof for a few seconds before it began to fly off, heading for the regular, _legal_ traffic lanes. "See I told you we'd be fin-" Luke was cut off midsentance as the engines suddenly coughed and died.

".You" Han said as he glared at his charge and friend. Then the ship _really_ began to fall. The two, Luke this time as well, were screaming as the ship started spinning sideways, then it hit a metal statue, causing the ship to spin off in another direction.

"Blasted piece of junk!" Luke spat as he kicked the dashboard with his boot. The engine remained unresponsive. "I got nothin!" Luke said to Han, who was turning white in the face. "Least we both had good runs" Luke added.

"Your a snot faced liar!" Han muttered. "I don't want to die yet!" He shouted over the wind that was whipping at their faces as he kicked the dashboard harder. Nothing happened. He kicked it again and he heard the engine give out a brief cough of energy. Both he and Luke glanced at each other, then they started kicking the dashboard like crazy, praying the engine would turn on.

It didn't.

"What happened?" Luke asked as they climbed out of the airspeeder.

"You decided to play games...all you had to do was fly to _Rustag'ууфs_! That's all! Next time we eat at the palace, no more crazy flying trips!" Han muttered as they looked around and realized they had landed in one of the drone piloted transports, this one, by some extreme case of luck, was carrying bed padding.

"Well that's an insane case of luck" Luke commented as they hopped out of the airspeeder and began to look around. "How long have we been out?" Luke wondered.

Han scratched his head. "I'd say only a few hours, that or my chrono is wrong...that airspeeder work at all?" Han asked.

Luke shook his head. "Nope it's a wreck, gonna be a pain to fix it later" Luke complained as he kicked the ship, causing it to start to hum back to life. "Really?" Luke asked in anger as he made a gesture. Han wisely jumped out of the way. A millisecond later and there was a hole in the mattress transport's wall, letting several piles of the stuff fall out.

"Luke you realize that there was already a hole from when we fell in here right?"

"Shut up Captain, that's an order."

"Hey Luke"

"What is it Mara?" Luke asked the slightly older Knight as she entered his Temple quarters later that afternoon. Luke generally stayed in the Palace, but every so often he would go to the Temple to sleep, mostly whenever there was a mission the next day or training he was required to attend.

"Just seein how your doin" Mara said, pretending to be offended.

"You want to make fun of me and Solo crashing into the mattress transport today don't you?" Luke said with a groan as he turned away from his datapad which had the report on the _Scythe_ and the investigation of it's whereabouts over the past few years.

"Yup" Mara said, shaking her red hair out of her eyes as she used the force to pull a chair over for her to sit down. "So what you doin?" She asked as she scooted closer, trying to read the datapad, however Luke plucked it away from her using the force and shut the screen off.

"Just some intelligence stuff" Luke said matter-o-factly. He generally shared stuff with Mara that really shouldn't be given out so freely, but he trusted her, but his father had told him only the council was to know about this mission, no one else.

"Spoil sport" Mara pouted as she crossed her arms. "So how long till your dad finds out about your crash?" She asked, knowing he already knew, but wanted to hear him say it.

"Already knew about it, got quite the lecture about 'Abusing my power' or something like that..." Luke said as Mara grinned.

"I can think of a lot worse things you could do to abuse your power..." She said, thinking of the military class ships that Luke could get into to, then she saw his red face and she realized what her casual statement sounded like and she grew as red as her hair. "Skywalker you have one perverted mind!" She snapped, trying to hide her blush.

"You thought it too!" Luke retorted. Before Mara could respond there was a sharp rapping on the door. Mara instantly flew out of sight as the door slid open and Master Tano walked in.

"Luke?" The older woman said as she surveyed his room with a skeptical eye. "Who's in here with you?"

"U-uh no one Master T-Tano" Luke lied and did his best to pull up shields to hide both Mara's presence and to cover his fear as well. Even though he was much younger then the master, he was close to being near her level. He wasn't an expert, but he had definitively inherited his father's powers.

Ahsoka glanced around the room once more before nodding. "Alright, I'll buy that" She said as Luke looked at her funny. "But if I hear you and Mara in here again, _alone_, your father hears from me" She said, then left with that threat hanging over two very surprised and terrified young adults.

Once the door swished shut Luke let out a sigh, it took a few more minutes before he moved and more minutes after that for Mara to come out of her hiding place. "That women scares me sometimes" Mara said. "I thought the two of us combined could have pulled off lying to her..." She said, disappointed in not having tricked the female twi'lek.

"Well she did train with my father, so she's bound to be full of surprises" Luke said. It was true after all, Ahsoka Tano was one of the few remaining alien Knights, and the only Master too. The Empire was allowing aliens into it's elite, but it still kept a very strict Human policy in the more powerful areas of the military, the Knights being among that list.

"Yeah...well I gotta go, no reason to be caught in here with the likes of you" Mara said with a snarky smile before heading to the door.

"Back at you" Luke said, trying, and failing to keep his eyes averted from the sway of her hips. He was almost sure she saw him, because there seemed to be more of a swing in her walk this time. But again, it was Mara, and she was the _last_ person he would think to be interested in him...at least he believed so.

**Well there's the first chapter. I know it's probably really weird and confusing and all that. I know I probably made mistakes on the characters too. Well let me know in a review! Also, this will be kinda random, cause im not following a plot or anything, im just writing as I go and all that. So if Luke is on some other planet or some ship in the next chap, don't go and think you missed a chapter, I just decided to jump somewhere. Let me know what you think, rate it if you want, if you read any of the Dark Order fics, let me know if this is worse or better. I am Lostsword and I will C U NeXT TiME!**


	2. Chapter 2: Tryysk

_The Emperor_

Chapter 2: Tryysk

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN STAR WARS**

"Ready?"

"Yep" Luke said as the ramp lowered onto the soft, yet extremely hot sand covered surface of Tryysk. Their small group consisted of Luke, Mara, Han, Nasha, who was another Knight, and Captain Slick, a former veteran of the clone wars.

The entire group was outfitted in light brown and tan colored clothing, with some of them wearing helmets with cloth that covered their necks. Slick was of course in desert stormtrooper gear, while Han was wearing a pair of old officer slacks and his favorite faded jacket over a tan shirt. Otherwise, the rest of the group were in more practical clothing for the desert heat.

"You sure about this sir?" Slick said to Luke. "Doesn't look like anything is out here..." He said as he checked his rifle's ammo, a habit he had been unable to get rid of since the clone wars.

"Yeah it's out there somewhere" Luke said, feeling the massive cloud of Dark Side energy echoing from Saawl's ship like a strong perfume in a very small room. He noticed Mara and Nasha were also spreading their senses, and they too confirmed that the ship was _definitively_ on the planet. Looks like Imperial Intelligence could do something right every now and again, go figure. Luke then turned to the two captains. "Slick, Solo, stay here and guard the ship, keep your coms open and be ready for any surprises..." Luke ordered before signaling to Mara and Nasha that it was time to go.

Moving out into the desert, Nasha finally spoke up. "So why again do we not just take the ship and fly to this thing?" She asked as she pushed some of her silver hair away from her tanned face.

"Because if there happens to be any defenses on the ship, or anyone around, we'd rather not alert them to our presence" Mara said.

"Exactly" Luke said in agreement and they fell into a dull, if not awkward, silence for the rest of the trek through the desert.

After an hour or so they finally caught sight of the ancient vessel, resting in the arms of a rather large sand dune, it was more of a mountain of sand then a simple hill.

The ship, an old yacht before they even had decent hyperdrives, was solid gray, with a few faded signs of red and maybe a sith symbol here or there as well as large traces of rust everywhere, but otherwise it was more for mobility and less for design. There were a few obvious gun ports and the bridge stuck out in the front of the ship, however it's engines were noticeably ruined, as if destroyed in a battle in orbit. Possibly the reason for the vessels crash. Well at least what they could see of the engines looked that way...

"Well we confirmed the ship is here, let's head back and contact the Council" Nasha said, noticing the twin looks on Mara and Luke's faces. They had a reputation for a reason after all...

"You go on back Nasha, I want to see the inside of that thing" Luke said as he headed down the dune they were on towards the ship.

"But-" Nasha started to say, only for Mara to cut her off.

"Race you!" She exclaimed and shoved Luke into the sand, causing him to roll all the way down the dune as she sprinted with the aide of the force down the dune, passing him and shooting on towards the vessel.

"Hey!" Luke barked and took off after her. Nasha, seeing where this was going, sighed before taking off after them.

Coughing.

A bang.

"Ouch Skywalker watch it!" Mara snapped, followed by slamming her fist into his sandy blond hair.

Luke, having the duel pain of running into Mara to avoid hitting a pile of abandoned crates and now the pain in his skull, grimaced as he tried to stop coughing. It was useless really. They all were coughing due to the heavy amount of dust inside the ship. It had been abandoned in a desert for _millenniums_, it was probably the dustiest thing in the galaxy.

"Sorry" He said, trying to ward off anymore blows. "You try walking through this mess. When this thing crashed, it _crashed_" Luke said, indicating the damaged hall and the mess and debris everywhere.

"Whatever, let's just find the archives and the cockpit. Then we can hunt down the engines and the-"

"OR we could go back to the ship and go home..." Nasha muttered under her breath as she followed her comrades farther along into the ship.

"Ah but where is the fun in that?" Luke commented in between coughs as they came to the ships bridge. They entered the small, four person sized room and began to explore the consoles and instruments of the bridge, which had a slightly less suffocating air to it. Well Mara and Luke did, Nasha hung by the door, giving them the best she could manage of a disappointed glower.

"How did this thing fly at _all_?" Mara wondered as she examined the old controls. The ship had been built back during the beginning of the old republic, it should logically be dust right about now. Instead it was just really rusty.

"Who knows, come on, lets go find the archives...I have a bad feeling about this" Luke said as he tried to find the flutter of dark intent he had sensed a few moments before.

"If it's anything like Vrox IV then lets just leave now" Mara muttered as they exited the cockpit and headed down the halls of the ship again, searching for the archives.

"That _wasn't_ my fault for the eighth time! I just happened to be right next to the alarm when it went off!" Luke complained as Mara grinned.

"Whatever you say flyboy, you can deny it to your grave and the rest of us will still know the truth..." She said and smirked before they stopped at a large arch shaped doorway. The door, like the rest of the ship, was coated in rust, dust, grease and grime. There was a broken keypad next to the door and what appeared to be a eye scanner as well.

The simple appliance of a lightsaber quickly got them pass the locked door and the trio entered into a massive library. It had multiple levels, with an opening in the center of the room on each floor so that you could see the other floors from the bottom level. Each level was covered in shelves and cabinets and tables lined with artifacts and books, all of which equally had dust coating them. There were also rows of statues and busts scattered around the room too.

"Woah..." Nasha said as they looked around. "We officially found the largest library on the Force" She stated. Mere seconds after she said that, a blaster shot went off. Only her training and her instincts kept her from becoming a corpse. Her silver blade sprung to life and the blaster bolt shot up into the roof, leaving a fresh scorch mark there.

Turning to face the attackers, Luke found two oddly garbed humanoid figures, clad in some sort of outfit made of leather and strips of cloth with combat boots and fully covering helmets. They both held long distance blaster rifles, one of which was cooling down after the one on the left had tried to fire at them.

The pair, shock and surprise radiating off their force signatures, froze momentarily, then they took off down the hallway they had just come from

"Quick, catch them!" Mara shouted and they burst after the pair of intruders, their force enhanced speed allowing them to easily catch up with them. "Stop!" Mara yelled, only for one of them to turn around and fire over his shoulder at them with a quick draw pistol. The bolt was deflected easily, however this time it was sent _back_.

The shooter crumpled to the ground, clutching wildly at his now badly burned shoulder while the other one continued on, not even looking back.

"I've got this one, you two catch that one!" Nasha shouted as she kicked the injured attacker's gun away and then using the force to suppress him. Luke nodded and followed after Mara. The other attacker had already turned another corner by the time they caught back up with him.

When they rounded the corner they heard multiple guns charging up to fire and stopped dead cold. Before them were at least five or six figures dressed the same as the other two they had just chased. And all of them had their guns raised.

Luke glanced at Mara and asked the silent question, _think we can take em?_

The sound of a small blaster charging up behind his left ear made him change his mind. He noticed, through the force, that two more of the humanoids were behind them now, each with a blaster pointed at their head.

"Crap" Luke said as he prepared to reach for his blaster, this would take perfect timing and...

"YAAAAH!" Nasha screamed as she appeared out of nowhere, her blade alight as she cut the two attackers behind Mara and Luke in half. Free to move now, the two other knights drew their blades and deflected the incoming blaster shots from the other humanoids, sending them back at them, quickly cutting them down.

"I sense more coming in from behind us" Nasha said as soon as they had killed the final attacker.

"I wonder why their here?" Luke said aloud as they quickly moved away from the enemy reinforcements.

"Bounty Hunters?" Mara suggested.

"No, no one knows about this place...we'll figure out with this guy and come back later" Luke said as he gestured at the barely conscious form of the attacker that Nasha had disabled earlier, which they had stopped to grab on their way out.

"Captain Solo this is Skywalker, do you read me?" Luke asked into the com as her flicked his com on. However all he got was static. "Jammers?" Luke questioned in surprise.

"I have a feeling that these guys aren't bounty hunters..."Mara said as Nasha threw the barely conscious humanoid over her shoulder, having finished tying him up with some thin, durable rope she had stored in her belt compartment.

"They feel dark, but I don't think they can use the dark side of the force either" Nasha stated as they began to move through the ship again.

"Could they be descendants of the slaves the Sith Lords used during the Great Hyperspace War?" Nasha suggested as they sensed several other presences moving towards them.

"Whatever or whoever they are, we need to move" Mara put in as the sound of booted feet could be heard echoing off in the distance.

"Agreed" Luke said.

"He's coming to..." Mara muttered as the humanoid, now having it's cloth helmet removed to show a human like face. However it's face was more of a light, palish red. It also had yellow eyes and no pupils. There was also a smattering of small horns along the chin bone and cheeks.

The creature spoke in a odd language, it was dark and menacing, but with the force they could tell it was disoriented and confused, as well as frightened.

"Great it doesn't speak basic" Mara complained as she cocked her fist back before hitting the creature right in the center of it's face.

"Now what was the point in that?" Luke asked as he watched the creature try and struggle free. "It's pointless, your tied down securely" Luke said, indicating the rope tied around the creatures feet and hands, keeping it solidly secured to the pipe in the engine room they were currently hiding out in.

The creature, who up to that point had been lightly thrashing about, testing it's bonds before stopping at Luke's words. "Well what do you know, it understands" Nasha stated as she observed the creature as it glared at her. The creature spat something in it's language again, this time however Nasha's eyes widened. "He's speaking in the Sith Language!" She said, hitting her head. "Stupid, I knew the dialect sounded familiar" She said, beating herself up verbally. "Stupid!"

"So you can communicate with...it?" Luke asked, not sure whether or not it was a he or a she.

"I suppose so" Nasha said, having been taught Sith Lore and their history and language, or as much of it as they could understand or find. She turned to the creature and began to speak in a much more...well botched version of the language it had been speaking in. It was obvious she was not a native speaker, but judging by the creature's body language, it understood her.

The two of them conversed for a few seconds before Nasha turned back to a curious Luke and Mara. "He" Nasha began, clearing up the first question Luke had been thinking of, "Said that they are the _Saarai-Kaar_ Clan, the sith followers of Graӓkkan Saawl" Nasha said. They conversed again and she turned back to them. "He says we will pay, his brothers and sisters will deal with us accursed..." Nasha looked confused for a moment and had a quick, but repetitive, almost questioning talk with the creature as she used the force to make it more responsive to her questioning.

"Um" Nasha said after she had finished. "It believes we're Jedi" She said in disgust.

"Those fools?" Mara stated as she took a step towards the creature. Luke however moved between the creature and Mara, effectively blocking him from her, and also putting himself closer to her by mere chance.

"Mara, he doesn't know" Luke said calmly. "We should explain it to him and then he can clear this mess up with the rest of those creatures, then we can hopefully learn something about how this ship crashed" Luke stated as Nasha nodded and began to speak to the creature. It seemed to grow agitated, almost enraged, before looking away.

"He doesn't believe me" Nasha stated simply as she crossed her arms, glaring at the creature. True the Knights were not dark side users, but they detested the Jedi more then the dark side because of their restrictive code and their passive stance against everything. The Knights of the Empire believed that there was a time for Peace, but there was also a time for War. One could not be fully peaceful nor fully blood thirsty if they were to be true guardians. No, they had to be a perfect mixture of both.

"Well I'm sure I can convince him" Mara said, pushing past Luke she ignited her blade and placed it right next to the creatures neck. It turned it's face to glare at her, however she didn't flinch, nor move the blade away. "Tell him if he doesn't believe we're not Jedi, I'll remove those horns of his" She said, indicating the small horns protruding from his chin.

Nasha spoke to the creature in it's native language and the creature angled it's head back slightly, almost putting it's neck into the lightsaber's beam as it tried to strike a cocky pose. Mara glared at him harder and brought the blade up, slicing off a good portion of all the horns on his chin. The creature howled in pain and thrashed in it's seat as Nasha spoke to it again. Once the creature had calmed down, though still obviously in pain, did it respond.

"He said that...he was wrong to accuse us of being Jedi, he will take us to his elders" She said as Luke nodded in acceptance, Mara, though still a bit angry, seemed to accept the response and turned her blade off. A few moments later and they had him untied. The creature, after stretching and complaining to Nasha, led them through the ship. The entire time they were checking their surroundings with the force, memorizing the way there as well as looking out for an ambush by the Sith followers.

However the creature was true to his word and they found themselves in what looked to have been a large supply hold that had been changed into a meeting hall or maybe a throne room. None of them could be sure exactly.

As they entered Luke found dozens of the creatures in the room, they were just like their former captive. Each had varying shades of red skin, with the same golden eyes. However, now that he could see them out of their thick clothing, he noticed they also had horns on their elbows and not all of the creatures had horns on their chins. Some had horns on their heads as well. The women apparently however had no horns, so either they clipped them off regularly, or they were incapable of growing them.

Standing on a raised platform in the room were a clustering of maybe five or six figures in thick robes that were colored a dull brown or very light tan. The robes had red lines and jewels embedded in the fabric, however Luke could tell from the frayed edges and all around appearance of well worn clothing that they were ceremonial outfits from a long time ago, and not simply their day to day clothing. Luke guessed they had been in the middle of some sort of meeting.

The creature that had led them to the room began speaking to the group of creatures in the rich, but slightly tattered robes at a rapid fire pace in the dark language. They began to start a heated conversation, causing everyone in the room to tense, however, despite the fact that Luke or Mara could not understand at all, it was obvious that the creatures had calmed down.

Their... former captive then turned to face them and began to talk to Nasha at a much slower pace. The female nodded and turned to her comrades. "They wish for you to demonstrate we are not Jedi" She said to Luke. The blond haired boy nodded and pointed one of his arms at the ceiling. He then winced and lighting shot forth from his palm, slamming into the roof, leaving a large scorch mark after he closed his palm, stopping the flow of pure dark power from actually damaging anything or killing anyone.

The effect was immediate. All of the Sith followers dropped as one to their knees and began to bow to the three strange humans who apparently had the same power as their late master. The creature whom they had captured began to quickly speak with his leaders before speaking to Nasha, who spoke with them.

"They want us to eat with them, then they will show us...uh I think he said shrine...it might be Saawl's tomb though" Nasha explained. Mara was the first to speak up.

"Well it's worth investigating. But what about Solo and Slick?" Mara said as she turned to Luke.

The Imperial Heir considered it for a moment before agreeing with the idea. "Nasha, ask them if they no why we cannot reach our ship, and tell them we will dine with them" Luke stated as Nasha nodded and began to speak with the sith followers.

"Do I really have to?" Mara asked as she looked at their 'Meal', that was if you could even _call_ it a meal. Before them each was a slightly chipped bowl of what appeared to be gold. In the bowl there was what appeared to be a bright red liquid. It appeared to be blood, but a closer examination through the force showed that it was actually nothing but water and red berrys mixed with a highly concentrated poison.

"He says it is called Bloodsoup, a religious dish that the ancient Sith used to drink" Nasha informed them as she examined her own bowl while the rest of the creatures around them ate raw meat from presumably the wildlife they had hunted...hopefully that was where the meat had come from anyways. "I studied this in the texts that Master Alais gave me" She continued as she took the metal spoon provided to her and scooped some of it up. "Only the Sith were allowed to drink it, as they were able to purge the poison from their bodies, it was a sort of test, to make sure they were actually what they claimed to be" Nasha explained as she took a sip. They had been, thankfully, taught how to purge poisons from their system by Master Tano during their early training years, and it appeared it was going to pay off now.

Luke decided to sample the dish as well, seeing as Nasha hadn't immediately begun coughing it up. She almost appeared to _enjoy_ it. Sipping the blood red liquid, Luke was surprised to find it was a actually decently good. The berries gave it a flavorful sent and taste, however he had to be sure to purge the poison from each spoonful that he took.

The three of them soon finished their soup and were given some of the odd meat, which they hesitantly ate. After that they were provided with some bread that was as hard as rocks, literally. They were then given a small goblet of water to wash it down with before being led back towards the library.

As they went, Luke mentally contacted Nasha. _Any luck_? He sent to her.

_No, they assured me that we should be able to reach Captain Solo and Captain Slick, but I haven't been able to reach _them, Nasha replied as they came before the entrance into the library.

_Stay alert_, Luke said to Mara and Nasha as they were led into the massive information filled room. They were taken past several large statues and behind several shelves before they stopped at a large golden bust of Saawl, dressed in the traditional Sith robes. The bust only showed his shoulders and above, however they could tell he had been a thin man, not very built, but his power and knowledge of the dark side as well as the light side must have made up for it, seeing as he was so important.

One of the creatures stepped forward and touched a part of the bust and to their surprise the section of the wall that the bust was in front of moved to the side and the small procession of Sith followers that had accompanied them began to file inside. The trio of Knights were quick to follow.

Inside they found a large copper coffin laying slightly angled up so that it was partially resting against a massive red pyramid. The pyramid was about four or five people wide, six or seven thick and three or four people tall. It wasn't that large, but they felt it was rather important for some reason.

The creatures began gesturing to the coffin as one began speaking to Nasha. "She says it is the custom of the Sith to kneel before the coffin, as a sign of respect" Nasha translated and they noticed the creatures themselves were kneeling before the alter.

Luke watched as Nasha and Mara did as they had been told and almost did so himself. However every single sense in his body was screaming at him to not do it. The force itself was blaring a warning. It was a good thing he listened to, for not a half second after he hesitated did the creatures suddenly pull out some sort of small bone like object. They stuck one in Nasha's back, as she had been closest, and were angling towards Luke and Mara as the raven haired female screamed in pain and slumped to the floor, unconscious.

Both Luke and Mara's blades were out in a mere moment and they were already slicing apart their attackers, severing limps and heads and ending the miserable traitorous creatures lives as easily as they might squish bugs on some jungle planet.

However they were both suddenly flung into one of the walls of the small room, their lightsabers flying out of their hands against their will. When they turned to look, they found Nasha standing before them. But something was wrong, as her force signature was showing not her, but someone else.

"I am the Sith Lord Graӓkkan Saawl and I have returned!" She cried, however her voice was now mixed with that of the undead Sith Lord, who had somehow taken over their comrade's body. Looking closer, they saw the cause, the red pyramid was sending a frail, barely viewable tendril from the top of the pyramid, which was now glowing, to the back of Nasha's head.

"Great" Mara muttered before she was shocked by the creatures. Luke barely had a moment to notice before he too was shocked, sending him into an unconscious state as well.

"Ugh" Mara said aloud as she came to, finding herself locked up in restraints in some sort of holding cell. "Luke?" She called out.

"Over here" Luke said from across the room in anther cell, also locked up in restraints. "Well" Luke began as he tested his restraints out of habit. "I wasn't expecting that..."

"Me either" Mara agreed as she tried to ignore the splitting headache that was the result of the shock charge from earlier. "How long have we been out?" She questioned.

Luke shrugged. "Who knows. Couple of hours maybe. Days, I don't know" He replied as he sensed a force presence approaching. "I think were about to find out" Luke murmured as the door to the holding cells opened up and Nasha walked in. they noticed immediately her skin was slightly red in places and her eyes were a light yellow now.

"You two" The odd voice said through Nasha's mouth. "Neither of you are Jedi, you have no qualms with killing and I sense darkness inside of you" It said as Nasha/Graӓkkan Saawl walked back and forth along the walkway between their cells. "However you are not true Sith, you do not have the darkness of the order lurking in your intentions" It continued. "I have searched through this puppet's mind and seen some of your history. An Empire ruled by a Sith, but with a organization of force users who are neither Jedi or Sith, but are instead a gray faction..." The voice paused, as did Nasha's body. "Well It does not really matter, I will son return to my body and conqour this universe with your combined force powers" The Sith Lord said as he waved his hands before the two of them, knocking them out instantly.

Luke came back to the world of the waking a while later and found himself tied up to the pyramid. Next to him was Mara who was also starting to wake up as well. Before them was a small gathering of the Sith followers and, of course, Nasha who was changing even more. Her skin was almost completely red and her eyes were growing a brighter shade of yellow. Luke also noticed a subtle growth of horns on her elbows and head.

"Begin the sacrifice!" Nasha/Graӓkkan Saawl snapped and the creatures bowed to their master before they moved forward. Most of them began to bow, however some of them, the ones in the ceremonial robes, began to chant. The pyramid began to glow a bright red and Luke felt the force drawing away from him, as well as Mara. A beam of red energy shot forward from the pyramid's tip and connected with Nasha/Graӓkkan Saawl's chest, causing his force signature to grow stronger as it absorbed their combined force energies.

Luke struggled with all his might, but with the force draining from him he began to feel week and realized that it was fruitless. Next to him, Mara had realized the same and was slowly lessening her efforts. "You know Skywalker" Mara stated as she started to turn slightly pale. "I always sorta l-"

An explosion went off somewhere followed by several laser shots and shouts of alarm. The creatures stopped their kneeling and chanting as the doors blew open, showing Slick and Solo, now in combat armor and armed with blasters, as they charged in, firing wildly, cutting down several of the creatures.

"NO! Stop them!" Nasha/Graӓkkan Saawl exlaimed, however it was too late, several of the blaster shots hit the pyramid and a massive explosion went off. Nasha screamed in horror and pain, her voice being the only one they could her this time as she clawed at her skull as if her mind was leaking out. The red beam retracted into the pyramid as both Luke and Mara felt the force come back at them in a powerful surge that almost made them black out from the quick return of their energy.

"Cover me!" Han shouted to Slick as he pulled out a vibroknife and used it to cut the bonds holding Luke and Mara to the Pyramid. "Come on!" Han said as Slick shot two of the robbed followers before they fled out the door, leaving half of the followers dead and half of them cowering on the floor as Han threw Nasha, who was out cold, over his shoulder.

"Where do you think you are going!" A voice boomed at them as Graӓkkan Saawl appeared before them. He was completely see through, however he had a dark outlining which allowed them to see him somewhat, or at least where he was. "You will not steal my _power_! My chance at _life_!" He roared and a dark colored blade sprung to life as he flung himself at them. The ghost blade slashed through Slick's right arm, severing it in the middle of his upper arm, causing his blaster to drop as he himself slid to the ground in pain.

"Slick!" Mara shouted in rage before charging the ghost form of Graӓkkan Saawl. Her blade collided with his and he smirked.

"Even with my power diminished because of you foolish youths, I am stronger then you!" He snarled and sent his free palm out towards her, sending Mara flying backwards into a statue in the Library, knocking her out instantly as her head connected with the stone.

"Mara!" Luke cried before turning to the ghost, rage fueling through his body as he lifted his arms and cried difiantly as lightning blew out of his palms, crashing into the surprised Saawl. The ghost roared in pain before vanishing. Luke ran over to Mara immediately as Han checked on Slick, having already carefully lowered Nasha to the ground.

"Mara can you hear me?" Luke demanded, trying to keep the slight fear out of his mind and voice as he checked her vitals. She was fine, she might have a concussion, but she would be fine once they got to the ship.

"FOOL!" Graӓkkan roared as he appeared again, sending Luke flying into a shelve lined with old books and scrolls.

Luke groaned and reignited his blade. "I am _so_ not in the mood for this guy!" Luke snapped as he clashed blades with the ghost.

"You are much stronger then I originally thought" Saawl stated as he pushed against Luke's blade with his own. "But I will still defeat you!" He barked before pushing harder and, after a flash of pain in Luke's wrist, he knocked Luke's blade out of his hand. The youth fell to the ground, his body landing painfully on the floor as the Sith ghost prepared to finish the Imperial Knight.

"Die you freaking ghost!" Nasha yelled at the top of her lungs as she stabbed her blade through Graӓkkan's chest. The Sith Lord howled in pain before vanishing once more. "You ok?" She asked Luke, who stood up, holding his wrist, which was most likely broken.

"Peachy" Luke said as they managed to make it over to Mara's body. She was still out like a light and Han was checking her as Slick, who was still in pain from his wound, was covering him with his left hand, which held the blaster that had originally been in his right hand.

"Where's the ship?" Luke asked as they began to move towards the exit.

"It's-" Han started to say only to be cut off as Saawl appeared again, this time a bit more hunched over and moving slightly more sluggishly then before.

"I shall destroy you!" The force master declared as he began to use his hands to make several symbols as he chanted. A glowing ball began to form in front of him. "Now perish!" He cried and sent the ball forward. Luke threw up his left hand, which wasn't broken, and the ball slowed for a few seconds, only for it to fly forward at it's regular speed all of a sudden and slam into Luke, electrifying him before he flew backwards, landing in a heap.

"Luke!" Nasha cried as she turned to face Graӓkkan, only to be hit by another of the glowing red energy balls as well.

"Now you will perish!" He cried victoriously, only to stop as the sound of a blaster went off. Looking to his left, he saw Slick, holding his blaster loosely in his left hand. The Clone fired his blaster into the Pyramid again, this time however he didn't stop and continued to fire at the object. The pyramid glowed a bright red and began to crack and smoke as Graӓkkan charged at him. But it was already too late. The Sith Lord hadn't even made it all the way to Slick before the clone's blaster overloaded the Pyramid. The stone structure detonated in a ball of fire and dark energy, sending the clone backwards several feet, where he landed on his armored hind quarters as Saawl howled in rage.

"YOU SHALL PAY!" He screamed. "YOU S-" He stopped screaming as his eyes grew wide and then, as if he had realized he would _not_ be returning to the world of the living, he vanished as his force presence exploded in a wave across the planet.

"Since when have you been such a gung-ho commando?" Nasha asked weakly as she allowed herself to collapse to her knees.

"Questions later" Slick said, starting to feel faint from the loss of his right arm. "Sleep now" He added and fell forward, out cold.

"I really hate you guys right now" Han said as he glanced at the already heavy Mara who was also unconscious at the moment and killing his shoulder. Luke smiled slightly as he pulled himself to his feet.

"Nasha and I'll get Slick, just go get the shuttle...ready..." Luke said, slowing down as he saw more of the Sith followers appearing out of alcoves and from behind shelves as well as the entrance that led out of the Library. "Crap..." Luke complained as he saw them massing in front of them and behind them.

Then the unexpected happened and the creatures began to bow before them. "What the?" Han said as the creatures began to speak in their native language to them as they bowed.

"Th-their..." Nasha said, half in a daze as she watched the spectacle all around them.

"Their what?" Luke questioned.

"Their calling us their masters" She said. "Their saying we broke them free of Saawl's will and that we are their new masters by right..." She said surprised.

"Well I'll be a sithspawn" Han said as the creatures helped carry Mara and Slick out of the room and to their ship. After Nasha made sure that the followers realized they would be back for the archives, the creatures promised to guard the ship, awaiting their return.

Hours later and the group was on their ship, heading back to Coruscant through hyperspace. Mara was resting in her quarters and Slick was being watched by Nasha, who was monitoring his life signs in the med bay. Luke and Han were currently occupying the cockpit as the ship continued on it's way home.

"Slick is fine" Nasha said as she emerged from the med bay and entered the cockpit. "I'll keep watch, you can go get some sleep Solo" Nasha said as she nudged the man's mind with the force. The captain nodded mutely and headed for his quarters, muttering a half awake thank you as he left.

"Whats up?" Luke asked, having seen her use the force on Han.

"This" Nasha said, gesturing at her red skin and yellow eyes and the horns that had grown on her elbows and head. They hadn't gone away after Graӓkkan Saawl's spirit had left her body and that was troubling her. "I don't think it will go away" She said.

"I'm sure the healers at the temple can fix it, reverse the transformation or something" Luke offered and she nodded weakly. "Don't worry" Luke said as he eyed the streaks outside of their ship that were the stars during hyperspace.

"Yeah..."Nasha said, not as certain. "Hey go ahead and get some rest...I need...some time to myself" Nasha said, her eyes pleading to Luke. The Knight nodded in understanding and pattered her shoulder, realizing that it was slightly harder then before, possibly another effect of her transformation, before he left the cockpit and went to his room aboard the ship, not as certain of the future as he had portrayed himself to Nasha. _What if the transformation is permanent?_ Luke thought as he entered his room, the door sealing shut behind him.

**Well what do you think? I honestly believe I made it a bit far fetched and the plot was a bit off and all that, but I enjoyed writing it, even if it was probably really bad. And unlike Dark Order I have to let the Main Characters get beat up a lot. And yes, Nasha's transformation will be a minor plot to the story as well as Slick will be a recurring character. I loved him from the old story and wanted to bring him along. And Gilra, for those of you from Dark Order who remember our Captain/Admiral, might return as well as a few others.**

**I'm Lostsword and I will C U NeXT TiME! (REVIEW!)**


	3. Chapter 3: Trouble Rising

_The Emperor_

Chapter 3: Trouble Rising

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN STAR WARS**

**A/N: Anyone know how to get line breaks on FF? I keep trying things and none of them pop up once the chapter is uploaded.**

"And the library is intact?" Anakin questioned as his son reported to the Imperial Knight Council. The room was a square chamber with a rectangular table in the center. The council, ten members in total, sat on one side of the table. Luke and Mara stood on the other side of the table, at the far end of the room near the door. Nasha was still 'Recovering' from her 'Accident' on the mission. The only people who knew about her condition were the medical personal, the council, those that had been on the mission and the highest ranking Imperials. Namely, his father and the Emperor.

"Yes milord" Luke answered as he recounted the battle in the library and how _some_ of it's contents might have been damaged. But all in all, the library was still intact.

"Knight Skywalker" Master Rȧo questioned. "You were sent on a _reconnaissance_ mission, yet you somehow ended up in a ship you were _not_ supposed to be on fighting in a room that was _not_ to be damaged or even entered" The aged Umbarian master accused. "What made you decide to enter the ship, when your orders clearly stated that you were only to confirm that the ship was there?"

"We were only looking to confirm that the archives were there" Mara said, defending her friend, only for Rȧo to glare at her.

"I asked Knight Skywalker, not you Knight Jade" Rȧo said icily.

"I, as Knight Jade said, only wanted to confirm that the ship's archives were aboard, so as not waste Imperial resources returning to the world" Luke said, trying to cover her accidental slip up.

"You almost destroyed the library however" Master Tano observed as Luke mentally winced. This wasn't going well.

"Only a few documents wer-"

"A single document damaged could be disastrous" Master Rȧo added. "And there is also the fact that those vermin might destroy the library rather then let us touch their dead master's treasure trove" He added as Luke nodded.

"I probed them with the force Master" Luke said, raising his chin slightly, angered that the man would think he hadn't thought of that. "They saw we were stronger then their former master and are now loyal to the order" Luke assured him.

"They were _tricked_ into believing you were stronger. As I believe you and the rest of your team were badly hurt and only because of a stroke of luck did you-"

"Enough!" Anakin roared, tired of the man complaining on and on. He knew that Rȧo was a good Knight, and was only being cautious, but it was his son and frankly ever since he had learned that he was needed on the front again, cutting down the time he had with his son, he had been a bad mood. "My son acted foolishly, however he did salvage the mission and that will save him some face, However he will still be punished for disobeying orders" He said and saw the look of hope in his son's eyes vanish before it was even fully there.

"Knight Skywalker will be confined to the temple for the next two weeks, as well as having his lightsaber confiscated and his rank removed until he is released from Master Tano's care, who will be supervising his two week confinement" Anakin said as he called the council meeting to an end. He signaled for Ashoka to take Luke to his quarters before turning to talk with a slightly calmer Rȧo.

"I cannot believe you managed to not only get stuck here for two weeks Luke, but that you also managed to drag me along for the ride _too_" Ashoka said in exasperation as she escorted the youth into his private temple quarters. The room was barely furnished, it was practically spartan if the few personal possessions were to be removed. Luke rarely stayed here anymore.

"Sorry, I thought they would be lighter on punishing me, I didn't really do anything wrong anyways..." Luke complained as he plopped down on his bed.

"You almost allowed a Sith Lord to come back from the dead AND you also nearly destroyed the largest and most valuable collection of ancient history on the Jedi and Sith that has ever existed" Ashoka said as she sat in a chair across the room, idly examining her nails.

"Besides" Ashoka added. "Anakin's only doing this because he'll be gone for two weeks dealing with a rebel uprising on Cakkiiwo II, he just wants to make sure you aren't getting off into trouble while he's gone" She assured the slightly sour Knight.

"I'm an adult for force's sakes!" Luke said. "I can take care of myself and I don't need someone babysitting me!"

"Well if you were just confined to the planet you would do who knows what, and if we confined you to the palace, it would be worse, so Anakin is confining you here. You'll have your freedom, but you can't cause as _much_ damage and trouble in here as out there" Asohka said.

"Yeah, but I have to have you with me if I leave my quarters" Luke said, knowing his father wouldn't let him run loose in the temple if he was going to be locked up inside it for two weeks. He might do something crazy like steal all the left socks from Master Rȧo's room again, or, his personal favorite, fill the air vents full of hormone inducer. _That_ one had gotten him in quite a bit of trouble, but the memories were worth it...

"High Lord Skywalker" Admiral Troak greeted as the second most powerful man in the Empire walked onto the bridge of his flagship, the _Vicerator_. The Imperial Star Destroyer was floating among two other ISDs. Before the trio of warships was the world of Cakkiiwo II, a mostly watery world with a few small islands floating on the surface. The planet was barely larger then a standard moon, however it was a highly contested vacation world. With some of the richest intergalactic companies having their headquarters on some of the larger islands, the exotic and friendly wild life, the clear oceans and the crystal beaches, the world was among the finest of the Empire's first colonies after it's formation around twenty or so years ago.

However now it was a hotbed of rebel supporters and secessionists. Now they had finally decided to strike against the Empire. They had pulled a highly successful revolution on the planet, rapidly capturing all of the starports and overrunning all of the garrisons in a matter of days.

Now the Imperial Third Fleet had been sent in response. A little over thirty thousand men, close to half a thousand vehicles and well over three hundred various aircraft all compiled together to insure that the rebels were routed, defeated and destroyed.

"Contact Major General Frall and inform him that he may began landing his Division here" Vader said, gesturing to the holo of the world that was floating in the center of the bridge command ramp. The spot he was indicating was one of the larger islands. This one was covered in a metal city with a large starport on one end and a massive drydock and naval port for in-atmosphere ships.

"As you command sir" The Admiral said before turning to an aide to relay the command.

"Here they come!" Someone shouted as the rest of the Cakkiiwo II Freedom Movement, the CFM, troops charged their blasters or checked the old heavy repeater turrets that had been set up in the higher floors of the buildings that were being used to hold their secret weapon. Surface-to-air anti fighter missiles.

Immediately after the spotter had seen the incoming shuttles, the Imperial landers became visible to the rest of the freedom fighters. Mere seconds went by before the rockets were shot into the air, colliding with the transports. Some detonated in the air, others crashed into buildings and more did a mixture of both still, detonating and sending large chunks of the ship into buildings or squares as they crashed.

The shuttles that _did_ make it through were immediately hit by infantry fire as well as some old pre-Imperial mortars from during the clone wars.

The ramps lowered and Imperial Army troops in their standard green uniforms with their black helmets and gloves came charging down the ramps, being cut down as the CFM troops unleashed their anger at the Imperials yet again.

Suddenly the sounds of Ties could be heard and everyone immediately ceased fire and scrambled for better cover. Then the Imperial ships rained down destruction with their blaster cannons and plasma charges. The metal buildings of the city were quickly reduced to molten slag in several areas as the air wing opened fire as their ground pounder comrades began to advance on the now pinned rebel troops.

"Someone get some fire on those ships!" One of the officers shouted over the heavy Imperial fire. It took several moments, but eventually shoulder mounted missile launchers spat out their payload; Which arced into the air, over the carnage before slamming into the side of a Imperial Tie. Numerous craft became orange blimps in the air, however there were still dozens of Ties in the air, and more were coming in as more transports began to land the second wave, which was much safer now that the rebel gun positions were being hammered.

They were really screwed now.

"How you doing?" Luke asked as he entered Nasha's medical bay. She was currently hooked up to several machines that were scanning her as she lay in the sleek silver metal bed with it's bright white cushioning.

"I've been better" Nasha said as she indicated her red skin and the horns before gesturing at her eyes. "I...I feel weird Luke, like something's inside me...like...like it did when he was controlling me...but...different somehow" She said, sounding as confused as her words. "I don't know how to explain it" She confessed.

"That's fine" Luke said smoothly as he sat in a chair next to her bed. Ashoka was politely waiting outside, allowing them to talk freely without fear of it being reported to his father.

"I heard about your punishment, sorry" Nasha said with a slight smile, trying to lighten the mood. "Mara told me earlier" She teased as Luke glared at her, however his glare held no heat, it was simply a friendly thing they would do. Along with Mara, the trio were always goofing off, heck Nasha had been apart of the plot to get the Hormone Inducer in the vent ducks back when they had been apprentices, still learning at the feet of their own masters instead of being full fledged knights as they were now. "She told me about the rank thing too" She added, still grinning slightly. "So you have to call me Ma'am or Knight Rȧo now right?"

"No" Luke said with a fake dignified air. "I'll call you whatever I want" Luke said as the door slid open and Mara walked in.

"Sure you will Skywalker, sure you will" Mara said as she sat down next to him, looking at their friend. "You ok?" Mara asked, slightly concerned despite the teasing air they had created in the room.

"I'll live" Nasha said. "I hope."

**Not really the best of chapters but i'm kinda running out of steam and wondering what I should do next. Any ideas on what you guys want? OC's to add or actual characters to include. You can mention old OCs from my previous star war fics too, or make your own characters, be it soldier or Knight. Do you like the battle elements or should I focus on Luke solely? Also I really would like to know about the Line Breaks.**


	4. Chapter 4: A Spark Before the Fire

_The Emperor_

Chapter 4: A Spark Before the Fire

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN STAR WARS**

"Morning General" Lieutenant-Colonel Bradley Stryok said as he entered the command tent set up by Major General Frall's staff. The older officer was bent over a holo table with several battalion commanders. The general waved off Stryok's salute and gestured for him to come closer to the table.

"The rebels are really putting up a fight in the Huan Zone" Frall said as he gestured to one of the islands near the center of the world. It was covered lightly in thin trees around the edges of the island, forming a thin circle after the rocky beaches of the island before coming to the center of the island, where it was mostly solid coral rock with a few small mountains placed along one edge of the island. "We have secured almost all of the islands in the zone" The General said, referring to the imaginary 'Zones' they had created to designate the massive amount of islands on the planet, grouping them together based on distance.

"Except this one" Fall said and gestured at the island they had been looking at. "The island's name is Piia, almost completely bare of life, it's more of a mining island, despite being among the largest islands on the planet" Fall explained as the holo table displayed several red lines along the island. "The rebs have about twenty, maybe thirty five hundred men on that rock, all of which are dug in and armed to the teeth" The General stated. "Bradley, I'm sending your battalion in with the 58th and 94th as well as a detachment of the 33rd Artillery Battalion. We need to wipe out this stronghold before they can shore up more men and supplies."

"I understand sir" Stryok said as he looked at the island that would soon be the battleground for his battalion. "Sir" he said and saluted. The General returned the salute and Stryok then made his exit.

"Incoming!"

Artillery fire slammed into coral rock, sending white hot fragments sailing into the air, arcing through Imperial uniforms as they were cut down by rebel fire. "Keep moving!" Sergeant Juccio shouted as loud as he could, running in his green Imperial Army uniform as the rebel fire intensified. "Don't stop!" He screamed as he jumped and landed in a crater. Laser fire began to rip up their lines while more troops got behind what small form of cover they could find. A light rain of dust from the bombardment fell on their helmeted heads before the sounds of a engines could be heard.

Seconds later and a flight of Tie bombers flew overhead before dropping their payloads, painting the island a blinding bluish white before the detonations finished and the sky returned to a sky blue as red laser fire continued between the two sides.

"I need a E-Web up here!" Juccio shouted as the enemy shells began to fall again. The requested heavy turret was eventually delivered and the crew rapidly assembled it. The opening fire from the gun managed to hold off a few rebel gun spots, but the arty was still strong. "Move forward!" He shouted before the line moved forward, covered by the lone turret. The result was mayhem, troops continued to fall, blood continued to spill and their strength was slowly, ever so slowly being sapped as they pushed towards the tree line, trying to get out of the sithspawn of a landing zone.

"If I meet the officer who decided to land us outside of their AA range, only to drop us in their Artillery range, i'll kill em!" One of Juccio's troops shouted as they finally came into the treeline, now somewhat safer from the artillery.

"Well-" Juccio started to say, only for a burst of laser fire to tear through the woods, hitting the soldier who had just spoken as well as three others. They dropped instantly and Juccio was already hollering for medics and to drop to the floor when a new barrage of shells hit the deck.

He was pretty sure he was in hell. Fires were everywhere, smoke was stinging at his eyes and half the men around him were bloody messes as rebel troops started pushing forward, a solid line of them!

Realizing they were about to be pushed back, Juccio jumped up and began firing as he ran backwards. "Form up! Form up!" He screamed as something hot exploded inside his leg, he ignored it and limped on. He made it to the line of craters where they had originally been holed up. "Get those guns online! Pull everyone up here _now_!" He screamed as the E-Web gunners began to reassemble their guns, which they had almost been about to move to the tree line.

Another dosing of artillery hammered their lines before a long line of rebels, two or three thick, came rushing out of the woods. They raced towards the half dead Imperial troops as the E-Webs finally began to open up, turning the rebels into puddles of mush for once.

"Are there any mortars up here?" Someone shouted.

"Medic!" Another yelled.

The entire skirmish became one giant scream fest after that.

"Their gonna breach the line!"

"Fire! Fire! Fire!"

"My leg!"

"The gun's jammed!"

"Grenade!"

"Ahhh!"

Half an hour later and the tattered rebels, which had made it into their line of craters and had fought with the Imperials hand to hand, made a disorganized retreat. The ground was covered in corpses and bathed in blood. The troops on both sides were exhausted and tired, their bodies at the very limit it seemed.

Sergeant Joccio was pulled of the line, four laser wounds adorned his body, two in his left leg, one in his right arm and another in the center of his back, just to the left of his spine. He had a broken left hand and a cracked collar bone. His skull was slightly bruised and his jaw was broken as well. He had still tried to keep on fighting the rebels when his own troops knocked him out for transportation out to a medical tent.

He had been nominated by his lieutenant for the Imperial Legion of Honor and Imperial Medal of Valor for his actions...but first he would have to live to earn them.

"Your up early" Mara commented as she sat down next to Luke, who was sitting in the Temple cafeteria, a tray of untouched food before him as he read up on the latest skirmish on Cakkiiwo II where nearly twenty four hundred Imperial Army troops had landed on a mining island and been given thirty percent casualties due to heavy rebel defenses.

"Looks like your dad will be gone for awhile" Mara commented, reading the report over his shoulder. Luke tried to ignore the closeness of the red head as he answered.

"You say that like your planning something" He said as he closed the datapad down and stored it in his belt.

"Maybe I _am_" Mara said as she leaned back a bit, eying Luke. "Who's to say we aren't going to sneak out tonight?" She challanged.

"I say" Luke muttered. "We can't sneak out. _I_ can't sneak out. If I get caught who kno-"

"Luke" Mara said calmly. "Stop worrying and just be in the fountain room tonight, and wear something comfortable, not your robes" She said before winking at him and walking off, leaving a very confused Luke Skywalker.

"This is a horrible idea" Luke muttered as they began to scale down the side of the temple. "If we're caught..."

"For the most troublesome Knight in the order, you sure do hate breaking the rules" Mara complained.

Luke shook his head. "Breaking the rules? Fine. Breaking the rules while on _probation_? No." Luke said as they neared the ground.

"Your dad's gone for a couple of weeks, it's a natural thing for their young kids to do" Mara said.

"Not young" Luke shot back.

It took them a bit longer, but they eventually made it to the the ground. After that they snuck over the security fence, using the force to keep the electricity off their hands. After that it was a cake walk.

"Where are we going?" Luke asked as they walked down the streets of Coruscant, which were tinted a multitude of colors, however the sun had already set, thus leaving the entire city in a twist of twilight and colorful lights.

"To relax a little" Mara said as they came to a medium sized building with a large sign over the door that said in giant yellow, orange and pink lights 'Nexus'.

"You brought me to a club? Mara do you have any idea how much trouble we are going to get into?" Luke asked as they walked inside, the guards outside paying them no mind. You really couldn't anyways when the two young adults were diverting their attention with the force.

"That's why I plan to get so hammered tonight that we don't have to worry about it tomorrow" Mara replied as they stopped before a turbolift. Hitting the call button, they waited a few seconds before entering the metal tube, which quickly sped back down several levels into the underground club. Halfway down the tube the lift was in became glass and they saw the massive crowd in the center of the room girating to the loud, thumping music blaring from literally thousands of small projectors, filling the room to the brim with the electric sounds of the band that was hammering away at the front of the room. Around the sides of the room booths were set up and a bar appeared to be located at the rear of the room.

"Mara you will be the end of me..." Luke complained as they exited the lift.

**(A/N: this song would never really appear in SW, but it's gonna anyways!)**

_The secret side of me, I never let you see  
>I keep it caged, but I can't control it<br>So stay away from me  
>This beast is ugly<em>

The music was blaring as they finished yet another round of some purple and green alcoholic drink that Mara had insisted that they try, saying something along the lines of "Will blow your mind."

_I feel the rage, and I just can't hold it  
>It's scratching on the walls, in the closet, in the halls<br>It comes awake  
>And I can't control it <em>

"I love this song" Mara said, a bit of a slur in her voice as she stood up, a slight sway to her normally graceful stance. "Let's dance" She said and grabbed Luke, who was in the middle of downing his drink, by the arm and yanked him onto the dance floor.

_Hiding under the bed  
>In my body, in my head<br>Why won't somebody come and save me from this?  
>Make it end! <em>

As they entered the already heated dance frenzy, the song began to kick up.

_I feel it deep within,  
>It's just beneath the skin<br>I must confess that I feel like a Monster  
>I hate what I've become<br>The nightmare's just begun  
>I must confess that I feel like a MONSTER<br>I feel like a Monster_

As the song began to speed up and the beat began to pulse harder Mara began to move against Luke. At first he wasn't sure what to do, but in his drunken state he simply went along with it, his mind in no state to realize how this could end. Or the consequences...

_My secret side I keep hid under lock and key  
>I keep it caged<br>But I can't control it  
>Cause if I let him out, he'll tear me up, and break me down<br>Why won't somebody come and save me from this?  
>Make it end! <em>

The two continued grinding, dancing, sliding. They were apart of the mass of bodies on the dance floor, gyrating to the loud, rhythmic beat.

_It's hiding in the dark  
>It's teeth are razor sharp<br>There's no escape for me  
>It wants my soul! It wants my heart!<br>No one can hear me scream  
>Maybe it's just a dream<br>Or maybe it's inside of me!  
>Stop this monster!<em>

Luke had his hands wrapped around Mara's waist now, holding her flush against him, her back to his chest as they moved to the music. Mara had already moved her hands up behind her head and wrapped them in Luke's hair as well.

_I feel it deep within,  
>It's just beneath the skin<br>__I must confess that I Feel like a MONSTER!  
><em>_I'm gonna lose control  
><em>_Here's something radical  
>I must confess that I...<br>_

The music shout up louder and the lead singer screamed in a loud voice, almost sounding like an animalistic growl or roar.

_FEEL LIKE A MONSTER!_

Luke felt Mara loosen up in his arms and suddenly she weighed a ton as the alcohol hit her and she fainted. He barely realized he was destined for a similar fate before his own vision faded to black..._  
><em>

**Well I gave you a song fic at the end, so what do you think? Too OC? Review pweeze!**


	5. Chapter 5: Questions

_The Emperor_

_Chapter 5: Questions_

**DISCLAIMER: Don't own Star wars, never have, most likely never will.**

**A/N: I know a bit about the military, but I have NEVER been apart of it, nor have I ever actually witnessed a court marhsal, so please don't be offended if I mess up any of Han's court marshal. Oh and let me know what you think of Han's full name.**

"_The board finds First Lieutenant Hansen Leonard Solo guilty of assaulting a superior officer, disobeying direct orders and allowing rebel operatives to escape justice" The slightly short, balding, mildly large Imperial Colonel said, actually it was more like he was spitting it out, as he stood up before the room that the court marshal was being held in._

_Han was sitting ramrod straight in his chair, wearing his spotless, decorated Dress Blacks, the Imperial Navy's dress uniform. He had expected this day since he had pulled out of his attack run. And he had concreted that expectation into destiny when he had punched Commander Nyklas._

"_First Lieutenant Solo will be demoted to Second Lieutenant with all awards, medals and recognition removed. He will be dishonorably discharged and he will be confined to the planet of Scialosti VI for thirteen years of hard labor and an additional seven years of confinement at the Vawix Prison there" The colonel said before ending the court marshal. Solo was escorted out by two uniformed IMP troopers, ironically it was the acronym for the Imperial Military Police._

_Han was left in a cell for the night, his shuttle to Scialosti VI would leave sometime tomorrow night, which left him with his thoughts. He didn't regret what he had done. It had been a simple mission, deploy from the **Raging Cyque** and engage the rebel operatives fleeing from the city of Ur on the planet of Troisk. However civilian and military personal had been too close to fire the lasers and he had aborted the practically perfect shot at the fleeing scum. _

_When he had landed his Tie back aboard the **Cyque**, his commanding officer, Commander Nyklas, had arrived with four stormtroopers and sent them to arrest Solo for disobeying direct orders. Han hadn't fought back...that much, but then Nyklas had slapped Han before allowing him to be escorted off. The man had still been grinning when Han had pushed out of the trooper's grasps and socked the Commander a good two or three feet off the ground before he crashed into the wall, out cold before he even hit the steel deck._

_Han smirked at the memory before he heard the cell door slide open. He stood up as a short figure walked into his cell. He tried to keep the confusion off his face as he eyed the man, more of a young boy really, before him._

_He couldn't be more then maybe sixteen or seventeen years old. He had golden blond hair, with a slight brown color mixing in. He also had light blue eyes and a build to him that suggested that despite his youth, he could easily beat Han in a fight. However the strangest thing about the boy was the fact he had on Dress Blacks, but there was no rank, nor was there any ribbons or medals pinned on. The only things on the uniform were his code cylinders and his station pin. His station pin. That part actually scared him..._

_The pin showed he was stationed on Coruscant, apart of the Third Imperial Intelligence Division._

_He was really screwed now..._

A

Han woke up from the dream as a loud banging began to come from his door. Sliding out of bed he pulled on a shirt and opened the door to find Master Ashoka Tano standing before him in her customary robes. Noting her arms were crossed, he could guess only one thing that might cause her to visit him at this hour of the night. "Where do you think he went?" Han asked as he followed her out of his apartment, grabbing his blaster, footwear and a jacket as he exited the door.

B

Luke had no idea what unholy hour of the morning they pulled themselves into the temple at, but he knew that the hangovers they had made it so much _harder_ to sneak past the security patrols and into the large building. He vaguely remembered slipping into his room, Mara still supporting him and vise versa. He remembered the two of them collapsing on his bed and then he remembered nothing.

And now he was laying in his bed, still fully clothed thank the force, with a unconscious Mara Jade while someone hammered on his door. Luke was about to jump up and get the door, however he was still slightly tipsy and he instead slammed into the ground as the door flung itself inwards. Luke knew only a few people in the world with enough guts to come into his room unannounced, and only two of those three people were planet side at the moment, and one of them was currently asleep in his bed.

Han Solo, one of the closest friends Luke had, stood halfway in the door, ready to yell at his charge, only to stare in shock at the sight of the two young Knights, obviously recently drunk, laying in the same bed. Well technically Luke was halfway in the bed, but he could put two and two together...

Sure he had always liked Mara and had hoped that she would end up with Luke, but he had _never_ wanted this to happen while _he_ was responsible for High Lord Skywalker's son while he was away.

"Han it's not-"

"Shut up!" Han barked as he closed the door shut, hoping no one was around to investigate his sudden outburst. Offhandedly he was glad that Asohka was still scouring the city for the pair. "Do you have _any_ idea how much trouble your gonna be in, how much trouble _I'm_ gonna be in for this?" He demanded as Luke tried to explain, however Mara moaned loudly from the raised voices she was subconsciously hearing and Luke moved to cover her mouth gently with one of his hands, taking care to leave room for her to breath through her nose.

"_What_" Han continued, although much quieter this time. "_Where_ you thinking?" He demanded as he moved closer, checking the pair for any marks or smells that might indicate they had done anything other then drink the night away. How they had gotten the alcohol was beyond him. Actually it was more of how they had gotten it _and_ gotten back into the temple that astounded him. They had obviously gotten smashed the previous night.

"We just went out to relieve some stress" Luke said, quickly trying to diverge Han from thinking they had done _anything_ close to what he thought they had done. "And we _might_ have had a bit too much to drink" He admitted. "But we did NOT do anything like what your thinking! We passed out here immediately, nothing, nothing at all, happened" Luke assured Han, who had relaxed slightly.

"Jeez kid Ashoka is ticked with you right now" Han said as he ran a hand through his hair while he sat down in the chair at Luke's desk.

"How bad am I in for?" Luke asked as he sat on the edge of his bed, moving his hand off of Mara's mouth once he was sure she would stay quiet.

"Pretty bad" Han admitted. "She has about half the temple searching the air ducks and gardens for you, and she's got the entire temple air squadron patrolling the city."

"Great..." Luke said and fell backwards, laying himself next to Mara, who was currently the reason he would most likely die in a few hours. He wasn't sure if last night was worth it or not. Last night...

He still thought he could feel Mara dancing against him. The heat of the room, the roar of the music, the feeling of her lips on his...wait, her lips? Luke tried to remember when they had kissed, but no image came to his mind. Now his mind was even more confused then before, and more worried.

"I'll try and clear the waters kid" Han said at last, trying to ignore the way the two youths were laying so close together in the black silk bed, looking for all the world perfectly calm; however he did catch the slight unease in Luke's relaxed form, something only he could do since he had known Luke for so long.

Luke, in his own thoughts, nodded softly as he continued to ponder the previous night's events.

C

"General I don't know if my men can secure this area" Lieutenant Colonel Stryok said over the static filled holo meeting with General Frall. "Even with the 58th and 94th assisting me, we are hitting major resistance" The Lieutenant Colonel reported as he transmitted the casualty reports of all three Imperial Army Battalions.

On the other end, Frall read the reports and grimaced, it was worse then he had thought. "Don't worry Colonel" Frall said to the veteran officer. "I'm sending in the 23rd Stormtrooper Division to assist" Frall assured him. "That should help you out."

D

"Man they really got hammered" Corporal Trace Aleei said as Squad 3, more commonly called Trixiion Squad, of A company, 2nd Battalion, 23rd Stormtrooper Division, marched with the rest of their unit into the hastily set up Imperial Army camp.

There was little love between the Imperial Army and the Stormtrooper Corps, both considering the other an 'Unnecessary Waste of Resources.' However seeing the dead Army troops still rotting in the mud and blood as their buddies dug their graves was sickening, and they averted their gazes as they entered outpost A, or as the Army troops around them referred to it, Camp Frall.

The outpost was set up in the woods, right where the beach ended and the grass and trees took over. Tents had been erected everywhere and several slightly larger ones, such as the Communications Tent, Medical Tent and Mess Tent. There were also several areas where vehicles and other equipment were being grouped up to be repaired and maintained.

"Yeah, i'd say" Private Riley Fween said from beside Aleei as he surveyed the camp and it's grim occupants as the rest of A company moved through Camp Frall and out into the woods. After a short march the company stopped near a river as Captain Hollon briefed them about their mission, which they hadn't gotten before their drop planet side, which was odd in itself, since the elite troopers were generally prepared for their ops before they had even left the ships. Being briefed in the combat zone was odd indeed.

"Alright boys and girls" Hollon said. "The rebs are dug in deep, they got the firepower and they got the determination to hold out against his Majesties Army for the next thousand years" He said, a slow, lazy grin forming around his mouth as he spoke. "_But_ they are _not_ prepared to face the men and women of His Majesties STORMTROOPER CORPS!" He hollered, to the screams of agreement from his troops. "Now we have to go secure a hill a few clicks away" He continued. "And I trust each and everyone of you will prove your worth to wear my white armor and do the Empire proud by killing each and every one of those miserable stinking scum bags of bantha filth!" He added before the company, and the rest of the battalion behind them, began to move out.

Hours later and they began to approach the rebel held hill. It was one of the highest elevations one could reach on the island and it currently was keeping the Imperials from landing troops in the woodlands in the Island's interior.

The distant sounds of laser fire from some skirmish on some other part of the island could be heard as the white armored soldiers of A company began to move up the slope.

Almost immediately laser fire began to rain from the heights above them.

"Force those guys really are jumpy!" Trace shouted as the laser fire missed him by miles. Apparently the rebels were firing at anything that moved.

"Move up and keep your heads down" Sergeant Yuyuzzi said as she flipped her rifle's safety off before moving up with Trixiion Squad. The rebels continued to fire, but most of the shots were way off, a few however managed to nail an Imperial here or there.

The entire push up the hill became short bursts of rapid laser fire between the two sides as the rebels tried to shoot the Stormtroopers, who were also equally trying to shoot the rebels; however between the thick brush of the woods and the smoke from the discharge of laser rifles and mortar shells hitting the sides of the hill, it made shooting each other into an art.

After half an hour they crested the hill and began engaging the rebels in the open. The first dozen or so troopers to come out of the brush and out onto the flat top of the hill were cut down by laser fire. The next wave however began to return fire as more troopers fell in behind them. The rebels would be overrun soon. It just depended on the amount of bodies it took to capture the hill...

E

"Sir the situation is deteriorating" CFM Lieutenant Rex Frost said as he approached his CO, Commander Flanders, who was in charge of the defense of Piia, their main supplier of armor and fuel for the resistance cell on the planet.

"I know" Flanders said as he ran a hand through his fur. The Cakkiiwian could feel the battle for the island, and the planet itself, was about to fall by the wayside. The Imperials would just keep pouring troops at them, and his superiors wouldn't send him any more troops, they too probably saw Piia as a lost cause. Maybe that's why they hadn't responded to his hails.

"Dyio's platoon is reporting Hill 58 lost to Imperial Stormtroopers" One of Flander's communication officers reported.

"Stormtroopers?" Flanders said, his fur drooping and his face paling as he heard the news. If shock troops were being deployed then all hope was almost certainly lost.

"Yes sir, we received reports that the 23rd Imperial Stormtrooper Division landed earlier today" The soldier reported.

"Armaments?" Flanders said, still in a slight daze.

"The 2nd Stormtrooper Shock Battalion, The 14th Stormtrooper Shock Battalion, the 22nd Stormtrooper Armored Brigade and the 66th Jumper Regiment" The soldier replied. "Whether or not all of their personal has landed is not available yet, so we'll have to wait until our sources can bring in more data"

"That's assuming we're alive to receive the data" Flanders muttered as Imperial bombers continued to hammer the island with their glowing bombs, causing the stone roof of their underground bunker to shake. Flanders returned to his holo map, hoping they could win the fight, but finding his heart wasn't as into it as it had been a few hours ago.

F

"We need to talk...about last night..." Mara said as she sat on Luke's desk, her legs hanging idly off the edge while he sat in the chair diagonally across from her. They had been shifting between awkward silences and random chit chat for nearly an hour before one of them could finally bring the topic up.

"Ok" Luke said, his heart clenching as his stomach began to churn. He was uneasy and hopefully the red haired knight sitting on his desk couldn't read him well enough to realize this.

"I-I..."Mara started, but found the words caught in her throat. Luke however, ironically, found himself finally able to speak more then a single word.

"Last night...we...I felt _energized_, I felt _intoxicated_" Luke said as he moved closer, if only by a few inches. "I...don't regret last night" Luke said, still a bit uneasy, if he messed this up he could lose Mara, but if he didn't mess it up...

Luke was broken from his thoughts as Mara made a split section decision and leaned forward, grabbing the blond haired knight by the back of his head and kissing him.

Luke wasted no time in returning the suddenly heated kiss. Mara slid off the desk and onto Luke's lap as his hands rested around her back. They had barely begun to deepen the kiss before they were interrupted by a loud knocking against Luke's door.

Pulling apart, Luke rose up to answer the door while Mara tried to hide. It was no use. Han opened the door and walked in, Asohka hot on his heels, a glare on her face as she tried to melt the two Imperial Knights with her eyeballs.

"Tell me everything, Right _now_" The Master demanded as she used the force to shut the door, not caring about the loud screech and bang that the metal door made as it was slammed shut, nearly breaking it's shutting mechanisms.

G

**Dress Blacks: Imperial Navies standard dress uniform. Picture the U.S. Marine Corps Officer's Dress Blues, but all black with slight gray lining.**

**The Stormtrooper Corps is a seperate branch of the Imperial Military, like the Navy and Army, it actually serves under the direct command of the Emperor, it is not, as some have believed, apart of the Army or Navy.**

**This felt like a good stopping point for now. Let me know if the new linebreakers are any good, I hope FF doesn't get rid of them. Review please. Also OC char's are still being accepted.**


	6. Chapter 6: Ground Pounders

_The Emperor_

_Chapter 6: Ground Pounders_

**A/N: I really don't feel like working on Luke/Mara's story at the moment, so i'm gonna jump over to the troops, and maybe leave you a surprise at the end...**

"How are things Mon?" Princess Leia asked the head of the Rebel Alliance, Mon Mothma, as she entered the small command room of the outpost they were currently hiding out on. She couldn't wait to leave the inclosed spaces of the asteroid base and return to Yavin, or better yet maybe Alderaan if she was lucky.

"They could be better" The older woman muttered as she gestured a the holographic table she was looking over. " But the Empire is focusing on another rebel group in the Roto Sector, their fighting on some planet called Cakkiiwo II" She said.

"Should we try and help them?" Leia asked, always willing to help put a stop to the Empire or it's evil war machine.

"I wish we could, but I fear it would be a wasted effort" Mothma said. "Imperial reports and our own spies say that they have already captured over half the planet, and the last half is barely defended at all. They had a public execution of the rebel leaders earlier today..."

* * *

><p>Things had gone from bad to worse.<p>

The shelling was getting more frequent and they had lost a major supply dump two days ago. They had lost roughly half their meager amount of food, most of their ammunition and a ton of other supplies that were making the resistance on Piia all the more harder.

Flanders pulled out a dented silver flask and began to sip from it, the taste of the bitter wine calming him down a bit as he went over the roughly sketched paper maps of Piia. With most of their power gone, they had to rely on old fashioned techniques to direct the battles, including runners to each of the units instead of a quick message over a com.

He had to admit, his men were fighting harder then he had thought, but he knew it was useless, the planet was done for, the only thing the scattered remnants of rebels on Cakkiiwo II could hope for would be to take as many of the Imperials with them as possible.

"Sir" Lieutenant Frost said as he put a small set of papers on the table Flanders was using, they showed newly scouted Imperial lines. "The 2nd Stormtrooper battalion is currently a bit farther off from the rest of their division due to being sent to probe our defenses. We should gather some troops and storm them, maybe route the battalion and get some supplies out of it" Frost suggested.

Flanders, already well aware that without good supplies they would soon be finished, nodded. "Get some of the troops prepped with what ammunition we have left and hit them soon, I doubt the Empire will leave a unit exposed for so long"

"Sir" Frost said and turned around and left, a light dust falling as the artillery shelling of the rebel held parts of the island picked up in intensity.

* * *

><p>The bolt of pure energy barely missed his head.<p>

Trace swore and hit the rough rock of Piia as the rebels came from _literally_ everywhere. They poured out of rabbit holes in the rock, from the light trees around them and just plain out of the distant rocky hills. There had to be at least a few hundred rebels all putting up a fight against nearly seven hundred stormtroopers. Idiots.

"Fire!" Sergeant Yuyuzzi shouted as she stood up, ignoring the flying laser bolts all round her as she returned fire at the rebel scum.

"Aye ma'am!" Private Fween shouted as he jumped up and fired at a clustered group of rebels, taking one down as the rest found some cover among the waist high boulders littering the bare rock plane, minus a few trees here and there, they had been moving through.

"Grenade out!" Trace shouted and tossed a grenade behind a boulder, resulting in a bright flash and a roar as it detonated, incinerating several rebels in the blast.

"More pushing on the right flank!" Captain Hollon barked over the com as dozens of rebels made a charge towards the somewhat reinforced line of imperial troops.

"You heard the captain, concentrate your fire on the right flank!" Yuyuzzi barked as several rebels opened fire, taking out a few stormtroopers in the loose formation.

Laserfire was traded between the two sides and several more grenades went off. It then resulted into hand to hand combat and brawling as the two opposing sides got too close to use rifles effectively.

The sounds of battle erupted around Trace as he fought against the ragged rebels that were intertwined in the horde of white armored soldiers that were his comrades. "Fween!" He shouted, looking for his squad mate. "Sarge!" He called as a mortar shell detonated nearby, taking out Imperials and Rebels alike. Since when had they called in for support?

The battle raged on longer and Trace eventually was pinned down behind a boulder as the shelling grew worse, then stopped all of the sudden without warning.

"Their pulling back!" Someone shouted as the rebels withdrew, suffering horrible casualties from the imperial troops that fired at the their retreating backs. As if to add insult to injury, a flight of ties came out of nowhere and strafed the rebels before they were finally out of view, having gone into their tunnel system or into the more rocky area of the island.

"I want a head count! Get me a head count!" Hollon shouted as all the platoon commanders and sergeants checked in with squad leaders and fire team leaders.

Trace found Fween and the rest of the squad. He also found Yuyuzzi, or at least what was left of her. She had been on a boulder, Fween calling in the air support near the end of the fight when a rebel had nailed her in the stomach, she had fallen off and two troopers had tried to get to her, only for a sniper to nail her right in the left lung. The sergeant had been dead before the rebels landed a grenade nearby, blowing off part of her leg and a decent chunk of her side. Apparently the rebels hadn't been the only ones to get a bit of rough treatment from the battle, sadly.

Out of the entire squad, Fozzo was dead, along with Yuyuzzi and Crayton. That left a few others who had been wounded and were being evacuated to a med center set up at Camp Frall. And with Fozzo and Yuyu dead, that left Trace Aleei in charge of the squad.

* * *

><p>"What is it thy master?" Anakin asked Emperor Palpatine as he stood in his private quarters, having just left the bridge, intending to get some sleep in before returning to the campaign on the planet below his flagship.<p>

"How should I put this my friend" Palpatine began and Anakin already knew where it was going. "It seems your son snuck out of the palace" Anakin had already seen that one coming and wondered where the conversation was going. "And he appeared to have snuck off with an accomplice...Knight Jade."

Anakin froze. His son snuck off during his somewhat recurring detainment periods, and occasionally he would do so with some of his friends inside or outside the temple, but he had _never_ run off with _only_ a female conspirator. "Did...he do anything, my Emperor?" He asked, worried about the answer.

"Well...I sensed he and Jade..." Palpatine thought carefully how to say this. "...shared a bed, but neither seemed to do anything...indecent" He said, knowing the lecture young Skywalker would be receiving later would be one to remember.

Anakin turned red with rage. His son should have known better. "I will return at once my Emperor" Anakin promised.

"I will talk with the boy" Palpatine said. "Do not trouble yourself with this, I simply wished to inform you, and I trust you will deal with him at a more opportune time" Palpatine stated. "Continue your mission Anakin" Palpatine said before closing the connection.

* * *

><p>"It has started"<p>

"Yes, the boy will soon combine his signature with the girl's..."

"But will we be able to control that mixture of power?"

"We shall see..."

* * *

><p><strong>Dunn Dunn dunn!<strong>

**Short, I know, im a bit mad myself. But I really wanted to get this chapter out there already! And I hope you like the short, if a bit crappy foreshadowing there. Let me know what you think the two people, if it was ONLY two people that is, hehehe, were talking about doing, or what they were talking about I suppose. REVIEW pweez! AND I HAZ GOTZZZ THA LINEZ BREAKSSS!  
><strong>


	7. Chapter 7: Εγγονός του αυτοκράτορα

_The Emperor_

_Chapter 7: Εγγονός του αυτοκράτορα_

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN SWs, if I did, then everyone would have either talked in a british accent, or the Stormtroopers would have been better shots...one of the two.**

**A/N: due to some recent life stuff, I have switched to a smaller font, let me know if it's too small or if it's fine as it is. And good news has come at last, I found a way to get line breaks to work on FF!  
><strong>

The training room's lights had been set to a low setting and both combatants were blindfolded as they circled each other.

Moving almost too fast to see, the two forms sprang forward, their blades flaring to life as they flew towards each other. Mere moments after they had flung themselves at each other, their weapons collided together in a spectacular display of sparks and energy.

However they had scarcely faced off before they spun away from each other. And then they jumped back into it.

Clash. Hiss. Clash. Hiss. Clash.

Back and forth the energy swords swung, elegant and graceful as they collided in a deadly dance. The two combatants continued swinging at each other for several more moments before flying back to opposite sides of the training room, which was circular in design.

They rested, breathing only slightly heavier then normal, before shooting forward again, stabbing, jumping and slicing at the other, hoping for the killing stroke. The battle raged for several more moments before one of the two warriors crouched low, almost sitting on the ground, and swung their blade at the others legs.

A mere second before the razor quick slash hit its legs, the figure jumped up and did a complicated twist in the middle of the air; while at the same time, they brought their blade down towards the first figure, the second figure's attack was blocked however when the first figure brought their blade into a horizontal position over themselves, causing the opponent in the air to bounce back up, before doing a flip and landing several paces away from the first figure.

"Ashoka will kill us if she catches us down here" The first figure said, having a distinctively feminine voice.

"Then we'll be _very_ careful to not be caught" The second figure said, a more masculine voice.

"Are you two sparing again! Confined to your quarters means _confined to your quarters!_" A loud, also female, voice shouted at the top of her lungs from outside the sparing room.

"Figures" The female combatant spat before flying into the shadows with her companion a mere second before the double doors made of Alderaani wood slid open.

A figure in the robes of an Imperial Knight, with the extra armor and red sash to indicate she held the rank of Master, strode into the chamber and scanned the room, looking vehemently for the two knights who had just a minute ago been fighting. She made a gesture with her hand and the lights turned up significantly, allowing her to see every inch of the medium sized room.

"Master Tano-" Luke began, only to be thrown across the room by the use of Ashoka's honed force abilities, wherein he crashed into one of the training room's walls.

"If The Emperor himself did not need you in his chambers in the next five minutes, you would be a dead, dead, dead, DEAD corpse! Did I get it into your thick head that you are dead when your done talking to his Majesty?" Ashoka shouted as Luke rose to his feet slightly dazed. She was obviously angry about some other event that had the unfortunate timing of happening right before she had come to catch the two of them sparing.

"Yes Master Tano..." Luke said, sighing in defeat, realizing that the Togruta was not in the mood for negotiating and he should just accept his fate and pray it wasn't that bad. Or at the very least it would be bad enough that Ashoka wouldn't mention it to his father when he returned home.

"And YOU!" Ashoka snapped as she rounded on Mara. "You _don't_ have any excuse, so we're going to have a nice long chat until he-" She paused and pointed at Luke with one hand while she glared at the red haired human female. "Gets back...got it?"

Mara winced at the implications of having to listen to Asokha rant at her for hours on end before she nodded slowly to the Master Knight and sent a quick glare at Luke. "Of course..." She said weakly, mentally thinking of ways to kill Luke later without leaving evidence of it being her doing.

* * *

><p>Luke took in a breath as he and Han stood inside the elevator that was rapidly rising up the central spire of the Imperial Palace. Han was decked out in his full uniform, with all it's medals and ribbons proudly pinned on. Luke was also dressed lavishly, wearing a magnificent gray robe with red and gold lining and with black and green emeralds dangling off silver and gold chains from the upper portion of his robe. Both were however wearing identical black boots that had been polished to an almost blinding shine.<p>

The two exited the turbo lift once they reached their destination, the top floor of the Emperor's Chambers as well as the top floor of the highest building on the planet. Even compared to the rest of the Imperial Palace, the top floor of the Emperor's Chambers were beyond stunning.

Cream colored marble floors and pillars stood out brightly against the black painted wooden walls and ceiling of the hallways that ran through the top floor. There were huge windows that let the barest hints of sunrise filter in. Large, exotic statues and paintings were scattered around and through several of the archways that led outside that they passed they could see parts of the Emperor's private gardens.

One of the other things that were easily picked up on was the army of guards. Every shadow behind the pillars that lined the sides of the hallway seemed to have a red robed Imperial Guardsmen. All of the doors had a pair of them, one on each side. And to top it all off there were guards doing extensive patrols throughout the place. The Emperor would not be assassinated within these walls, that much was certain.

Stopping before a set of mechanized, wooden double doors, flanked on each side by six guardsman, Luke waited until the doors slid open and then entered the Emperor's Quarters while Han stayed outside, moving closer to a pillar nearby to wait. The double doors sealed shut and Luke was alone with the Emperor.

"For all your potential, you have continued to prove to be of the same stock as your father" The Emperor said quietly as Luke approached the Emperor, who was sitting in a simple plush chair by a large window that was no doubt reinforced and ray shielded. Luke said nothing, knowing from experience that the Emperor would signal him when he was ready for him to speak.

"You were unfairly punished, yes" Palpatine stated, matter-of-factly. "And to honor your punishment...you escaped from your lock-down, went out into the lower levels with _another_ knight and spent the night partying and drinking with that knight" Palpatine continued, purposely refusing to mention Mara Jade's name. "And then, _after_ we pardon you and simply put you back in your lockdown, you sneak off and spar in the mornings with that _same_ knight" Palpatine finished, looking at luke.

"I-I am sorry your Majesty" Luke said and was rebuked with a scoff.

"You of all people know that you may speak freely with me _here_" Palpatine said with the slightest of grins.

"Of course Grandfather" Luke said. "What is it that you summoned me for?" Luke asked.

"Well there is the matter of you causing trouble while under probation, and with a fellow knight as well...you could be demoted or even put on a more extended probation" The older man said. "You should know better..." He added, sounding slightly sad and also disappointed.

Luke winced, knowing that both would result in a lot of screaming and suffering, while he also knew that his grandfather had a way out, which would be almost perdurable to the former punishment.

"As you know, the Empire's nineteenth birthday ball will be coming up in a few months..." Palpatine began as Luke groaned, already knowing what would be expected of him. "...and a man by the name of Devon G'Dor plans to unvail a new statue honoring the Empire...you will be assisting him."

Luke could tell by the tone in his voice that it was non-negotiable. He sighed and nodded to the Emperor. It made sense, in a way. To Palpatine's great annoyance, Luke had a natural gift for architecture, however he hated it.

"Good" Palpatine said, seeing that he had gotten his point through. "Now return to the temple, you and your...friend will be overseeing the project tomorrow morning."

"Yes Grandfather" Luke said, trying to keep the glee out of his voice now that he knew his grandfather planned to let him spend time with Mara still, while also escaping Ashoka's wrath for a small amount of time.

* * *

><p>"Milord" Major General Frall said as he bowed low to the Imperial High Lord. He had just arrived from Cakkiiwo II, postponing his report only long enough to shower and change into a fresh uniform.<p>

"General" Anakin said as he nodded to the man. He turned back to face the viewport that showed the front of his flagship, the _Devastator_, as well as the watery world of Cakkiiwo II.

"My men have secured all but a small handful of islands on the planet, and are now being rotated with fresh occupation units" Frall reported. "Piia is the only major resistance left on the planet and we estimate that only a couple of days, a week at most really, is all that it will take to finish off any organized resistance there."

"Good."

* * *

><p>Luke and Mara, with Han and Slick acting as their 'Guards' exited the Royal Imperial Speeder the next day and looked around at the construction site. Speeders moved all around the structure; some flew overhead, some moved around it on the ground and more were just arriving with supplies and personal for the construction sight, and it was quite a site to behold.<p>

In honor of the Emperor and his Empire, Devon G'Dor had begun building a massive, sprawling pyramid of pure black stone. However about halfway up the parts of the pyramid that were already built, glass was beginning to take the place of the stone, with an obvious plan to make the upper half of the structure completely, or almost entirely, of glass.

Due to the partially unfinished walls, Luke could see that the inside was hollow and that a procession of men and women were moving varoius objects ranging from tables and chairs to glow lights and soap dispensers. Seeing a tent set up nearby, they walked over to it and entered, where they found G'Dor looking over a holographic design of the temple, including a floor plan, several statistics and some measurements.

He had wild orange hair with a green streak starting near the center and ending near his left cheek. His eyes were a vivid gray with orange scattered around the iris. Looking to be in his late twenties or mid thirties, he was slightly overweight, but still had an air of youth about him as he excitedly made changes to the plans with a stylus and muttered to himself about new possible additions to the structure. But once he heard and sensed the presence of Luke and Mara, with their small entourage, enter his humble abode.

"Sire!" The man all but shrieked in surprise and bowed low to the Imperial knights and the two Imperial soldiers accompanying them.

Luke grinned slightly, but nodded for the man to rise. Devon then energetically made gestures for them to approach the holo table he had been working at. "Come, come, come! I just finished the measurements for the archway and I have almost finished working out how the support beams will be woven into the building's interior!" The architect went on exitedly. Luke and Mara put on their best facades of looking extremely interested in the project as D'Gor went further into detail of the monument and it's interior, including the throne room, reception chamber, museum and banquet hall. Han and Slick, luckily, were able to retreat to near the door and escape the conversation.

* * *

><p>Palpatine sat upon his throne in the Imperial Court Chambers. The massive room was empty, it's many seats, both on the ground floor and on the upper levels in the tiered balconies that surrounded the central floor, were vacant. The huge glass window that his throne was placed before showed the majority of Imperial City, as well as the Imperial Knight Headquarters.<p>

He had been in thought, paying his guards no mind as he mentally brooded. His thoughts had been centralized around his grandson. The boy was a prodigy, mastering the arts of the force at an impressive speed. He was also as headstrong as his mother and as rebellious as his father. His anger was strong, but his passion and wisdom were growing and countering it, however he still had far to go before he could rule as one of Palpatine's Viziers.*

* * *

><p>"Are you sure about this General?" Lieutenant-Colonel Stryok asked the hologram of Major General Frall, who was aboard the <em>Devastator<em> at the moment. "Mount Pylos is still a heavily defended area..." He said, gesturing to the holotable next to him, which was showing the island of Piia and the mountainous region designated Mount Pylos. The area was covered in red and blue lines, with almost all of the lines flashing, indicating they were in an engagement.

"While I agree with you that an air assault would not be the best way to finish Mount Pylos off, it will be the fastest way" Frall said. "Get it done Stryok, I know you will get this final patch of resistance finished off in no time at all."

_Yes_, Stryok thought, _but how many men must die before we finish off **all** resistance?_

* * *

><p>"Gear up! Gear up! We Jump* in twenty seconds!"<p>

Staff Sergeant Tryce Iosla slid a back up battery for his rifle into a ammo slot on his armor before gripping said rifle in his hand and sliding his helmet over his head. He then moved closer to the back of the Imperial transport where the rest of his platoon was preparing to make The Jump*.

The Imperial Jumper Division* of the Stormtrooper Corps was among the most dangerous and hair raising jobs in the galaxy. Put in light weight armor, even for regular infantry standards, and given eighty five pounds of combat gear and then shoved out of a transport moving at near sonic speed was enough to keep the enlistment numbers for the select group low. That number shrank even more after the Jumper Boot Camp, which was _after_ the Stormtrooper Corps Boot Camp.

"We Jump in five, four, three, two, one! Go! Go! Go!" The Jumpmaster shouted over the roar of the wind as the ramp lowered and the Jumpers began to start exiting the craft.

Iosla felt the wind whip at his armored body as he fell closer and closer to the ground. The battlefield they were falling into was filled with laser fire and explosions from mortars, artillery pieces and grenades alike. White ranks of Imperial soldiers merged with the green ranks of Imperial Army soldiers as they fought against the multi colored ranks of rebel soldiers.

The fall lasted only for a few short seconds before his boosters kicked in and landed him safely in the combat zone. Yanking his rifle up, he ran at the rebel lines that the 66th Imperial Jumper Regiment had landed so close to and let loose a stream of green bolts that cut down a handful of rebels hiding in a network of foxholes. The rest turned to fire at him, but the rest of Iosla's comrades had quicker trigger fingers and the remaining band of rebels quickly fell to the might of the Empire's blasters. Having cleared those few foxholes, Iosla led his platoon across the rocky battlefield towards another series of defenses, these consisting of trenches and heavy turrets.

Explosions rocked the ground as friendly and enemy fire filled the air and several flares went up in more oppressed areas in need of reinforcements. The laser fire intensified and bodies began to fall. After nearly two and a half hours of continuous fighting, Mount Pylos fell. But the cost was nearly two thousand Imperial soldiers.

* * *

><p>CFM Commander Flanders had been taken alive, badly wounded and still fighting madly against his Imperial captors, but his pitiful attempts were easily blocked by their armor and he was dragged out of the repetitively bombed command center on Piia. CFM Lieutenant Frost had been shot in the chest upon the Imperial's charge into the base and several other higher ups had fallen in the battle for the control room; but Flanders had the unfortunate luck to be shot in the leg and a few other non-vital areas before they had gotten the room secured enough to actually get binders on him.<p>

Major Aleon Rai grinned grimly at the rebel as he began to cease his struggles. He then turned to the Imperial Jumpers who had captured him. "Staff Sergeant" He said. "Take that man aboard my shuttle and have him prepped for Lord Vader, he wants to speak with this man...alive" He said pointedly, indicating the man's blood soaked uniform and face.

"Yes sir!"

* * *

><p><strong>Well this finishes Chapter 7, let me know what you think. Do you guys like or hate the smaller font and any new characters, OC or otherwise to ad? Plot ideas? Seriously im pretty much winging this fic right now, a plot idea would be awesome.<strong>

*** The title of Imperial Vizier is, as far as i know, completely made up by my mind. I blame reading too much Egyptian stuff in history class. It is basically a rank that is on par with Grand Moff, but for civilian/people outside of the military directly. It is used mostly to people that Palpatine gives to those that work directly under him. A Grand Vizier would be the third most powerful person in the Empire (hint hint, nudge nudge, wink wink), since the High Lord is second to the Emperor.**

**Also, i would like to take the time to make it official that Redlight King (a new band i found) is the sole reason i was able to finish this chapter, well, the core reason anyways. Motivate with reviewss and go check out Redlight King (This is not an advertisement, i just really like the band).  
><strong>


	8. Chapter 8: A Father's Return

_The Emperor_

_Chapter 8: A Father's Return_

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN STAR WARS**

* * *

><p>The Imperial shuttle descended slowly through the air, hovering over the landing platform for several moments before it's landing gear lowered fully upon the concrete. The engine rumbled to a halt and the small procession of Imperial Knights standing on either side of the red carpet that led into the Imperial Knight Headquarters quickly quieted and stood perfectly erect. Standing on the carpet were all of the Masters of the Order that were currently planet side. Standing before them was Master Rȧo and Luke, the former looking perfectly calm, maybe even a bit relieved to not have to deal with running the Council Meetings anymore, while the latter looked slightly worried and a bit nervous.<p>

With a hiss, the ramp lowered and the long awaited High Lord of the Empire descended, touching Coruscanti ground for the first time since he had shipped out for Cakkiiwo II. Looking annoyed, he walked briskly towards his son, ignoring the council members.

"We will talk at dinner tonight, until then, everyone is dismissed" Anakin said before walking down the steps of the landing pad and then across the carpet into the temple, not even glancing at the knights standing at attention on either side of him.

"Great." Luke muttered as Mara, having used the force to extend her hearing while she was in the formation behind them, snickered, ignoring Master Rȧo's glare as Luke mentally spoke to her.

_You realize that he'll want to talk to BOTH of us about that night right? And about our relationship too._

The snickering stopped abruptly.

* * *

><p>"Father"<p>

"Son" Palpatine said as Anakin entered his private study, having come over after taking care of a few things at the Temple. Palpatine, though few knew of this, had a fondness for reading and mechanical devices. So it was often that Luke or Anakin might find him in his study, tinkering with a device or another while reading one subject or another. And this proved to be the case as Anakin found his father working on a black stone like object in the shape of a pyramid. Near the neatly stacked and arranged tools and pieces of stone and crystal were several manuscripts of Sith Lore, as well as a fully working holocron.

The device was open and it showed the shadowy form of the Sith Lord Revan, who had been helping the aged Emperor in the construction of yet another holocron. Shutting the device off with the force, Palpatine turned in his wooden chair to face his son, who had drawn up a chair as well.

"About Luke...what is it you have in mind to deal with his..._excursion_ with Knight Jade while I was away.

Palpatine chuckled dryly. "I have already started with his punishment" he said. "He and Knight Jade have been assigned the task of overseeing the construction of a monument for the Empire's Birthday Ball" he explained.

Anakin smiled brightly. "You are a truly evil man" he said as he imagined his son's disdain for the long project ahead. "But it will be good practice for him...even though he slept with Mara" Anakin added, though his face darkened at the mention of said incident that had landed Luke in his current state of torment.

"Were you and Padme so much different during the War? And they merely slept in the physical sense. They at least had enough brains about them collectively at the time to not doing anything more" Palpatine stated calmly, however Anakin straightened slightly at the mention of his dead wife.

"I hope to the greatest extent that those two _never_ end up like Padme and myself" Anakin said grimly.

"She was clouded with the ideals of the Old Republic. What happened was for the best...now, we have a dinner to attend" the Emperor said and the two left the private study together, both thinking about one blond haired boy who would one day rule the Empire.

* * *

><p>Metal utensils clinked elegantly against glass plates as the trio began the first course of the dinner. The table was long, however only the end closest to the large window of the Emperor's Dining Room was currently occupied. The Emperor himself sat at the head of the table, lightly sipping the warm soup before him, while High Lord Skywalker sat to his right and Prince Skywalker to his left.<p>

"So how has the project been coming along?" Palpatine asked his grandson, who winced when his father's gaze came upon him. In comparison to his elders, the youth had eaten very little, only nibbling at the small bread rolls set next to the soup by the kitchen staff.

"Most of the outer structure is finished, and we have begun work on the main banquet hall, as well as fixing some measurement errors" Luke said. "The entire thing is, in complete honesty, boring grandfather."

Palpatine nodded as he looked at his High Lord. "Perhaps we should reward your son with a military mission after the Ball?" Palpatine suggested as Luke all but leapt out of his seat in excitement, barely managing a straight face.

Anakin wanted anything but to reward his son, but he knew Palpatine would do it anyways, regardless of what he thought. "I suppose..." He said and felt the force shift ever so slightly as Luke tried to not let out a loud sigh of relief and joy. "But I do not think he should be unsupervised this time" sensing his son's hurt and surprise, he continued on. "He and his escort were nearly killed in their previous engagement, resulting in Knight Rȧo suffering a very painful transformation in which she may not recover, and there is the fact that only he and Knight Jade would be going..." He said, leaving the statement hanging in the air, letting Luke know very clearly that he wouldn't be anywhere near Mara without someone watching him for the time being.

"True" Palpatine agreed, nodding his head. "But Luke did save the library, vanquish a Sith Lord and deliver us a new race of slaves to be used as we see fit" Palpatine said. "However" He added. "I did not intend to send him off on his own anyways. You will be accompanying him and a task force to investigate a new area near the Coltos Sector" he began. "Several scientists have told me that a new cluster of planets may exist there and the pioneering ship sent to investigate it have not returned or sent word other then that they had exited hyperspace, then nothing..." Palpatine said. "But we can discuss this later, lets here about your mission" he added and looked at his son, interested in how the campaign had gone.


	9. Chapter 9: Scryoix, The Gentleman Pirate

_The Emperor_

_Chapter 9: Scryoix, The Gentleman Pirate_

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN STAR WARS**

* * *

><p>"Morning Captain" Lieutenant Sean Vilore said as the commander of the <em>Delicate Trident<em> exited the turbo lift and settled himself into the captains chair. Captain Ruan Roffan mumbled his own greetings to the Vilore and the rest of the ships bridge crew as he brought up a stream of data on his console. He never had been a morning person.

"Good morning Captain Roffan" The ship's computer said as he began to work through the piles of datawork. "The _Delicate Trident_ will exit Hyperspace in eight point six hours and forty five seconds."

Ruan ignored the computer and continued with looking at their destination, which was the Core World of Ralltiir, known for it's technological wonders and advancements. And for those purposes was the _Trident _making it's journey from Coralla IV. "Shipment of fourteen point two thousand units due in five point seven hours and twelve seconds" The computer added and Roffan swore.

"Let's see if we can squeeze some speed into this old relic...Helmsman!" Roffan said. "See what the mechanics can do with the-" The captain was cut off as the ship stopped all of the sudden, violently being yanked out of the vice like grip of Hyperspace by pure force.

Roffan was thrown from his command chair from the sudden action and he slammed into the glass view port of the bridge with a painful smack. Groaning, he barely had enough time to get a bearing on his surroundings before the ship shook uncontrollably and he was thrown through the air once more, slamming into the port side wall with a brutal thud.

Unable to see properly out of his right eye due to the blood flowing freely from a jagged cut above it, Ruan glanced around the room, trying to find out what was going on, only to hear the words "Pirates!" before fading to black.

* * *

><p>Kroaaan Scryoix grinned a menacing, happy smile as he stepped aboard the vessel his men had rather quickly captured. The crew was lined up to either side of him, forced to down onto their knees, hands in binders as they were held at blaster point by armed pirates.<p>

"I trust you are enjoying yourselves gentleman?" Kroaaan said with a pompous, somewhat royal air as he brandished his golden, jeweled cane. Setting it onto the deck of the ship, he eyed each of his nervous, or dare he admit it, down right terrified captives with glee. "Pity" He said and noticed that one of the crew members that had been captured, the one with a bloody gash over his right eye, looked at him curiously. "I was hoping that at least _some_ of them would be of use...oh well" He said and turned to his second in command, Navisha Hirro.

"Take the top ranking ones and lock them up for ransom, the rest can be shipped off to the slavers" He ordered the Mirialan before heading off to the airlock, ready to return to the _Ensemble_. "Oh and Navisha dear" He said sweetly, "do save me some of the loot this time" He said and then the airlock sealed.

The Mirialan, Navisha, snorted before turning to the assorted captive crewmen and pirates. "You heard him! Get 'em aboard!" She snapped. Before she had even finished her sentence, one of the officers, he had lieutenant stripes on his uniform, lunged at her, breaking free of his guards grip out through sheer surprise. Tears in his eyes as he screamed, she realized he didn't want to be taken alive. Sadly for him, she was perfectly fine with that

Calmly, the female pirate raised her blaster and fired off a single shot, which buried itself into the center of the suicidal lieutenant's chest. Gasping once, the light in his eyes flickered briefing, then vanished as he slumped to the deck, never to move again.

Ignoring the shocked looks of the rest of the crew, she spoke to them. "If any of you have any ideas of attempting the same thing as your friend there" She nudged the corpse for emphasis, "then I would like you to know I have plenty of ammo left, and today has been _exceptionally _boring" She said and watched with silent enjoyment as the rest of the crew dropped their heads in shame and fear before they were yanked to their feet by their captors and dragged towards the airlock.

"Monster!" One of the men, he had been the closest to the lieutenant, yelled. "Your a good for nothing monster!" He howled, pain streaking his face. His uniform indicated he was a captain. Or at least, he _had_ been a captain.

Navisha just smiled cruelly.

* * *

><p>"No way in the Emperor's name..." Private Lorad Fox complained as Private Frind Norz raked in the small pile of credits laying in the center of the makeshift table. Sitting around it were the six new privates of Squard 3, A Company, 23rd Stormtrooper Divison. They had arrived about two days ago on the cold world of Rhinnal in the Darpa Sector. They had been sent as replacements for the badly damaged 23rd Stormtrooper Division, but they had all but been left to their own doings by their superiors who were occupied all day lazing about, enjoying the rest they had earned after weeks of combat.<p>

"I won fair in square" Norz snapped. "Just because you don't understand the finer points of _Sabacc_ doesn't mean you have to throw a fit about it" The bulky marksmen complained.

"What?" Fox said, rising to the words he saw as challenging. "We're not even using actual cards! Just plain thick paper ones that have the numbers already written on them, you can't even scramble these!"

"That's because these cards are _supposed_ to be used in my homeworld's traditional game of Rekòp" Norz said in complete deadpan. "And these cards are fine, you just are used to being able to cheat with your fancy gizmos" The Kashyyykian stated, pointing at the tech specialist's electronic equipment strapped onto his armor, which was lying on his bunk behind him.

"Oh shove it you too" Private Slyde Nooiker barked. "Let's just get back to the _Troiakan_ game" He complained, so pent up with the delay that he had cursed in his native tongue.

Before any of them could return to the game or continue arguing, Corporal Fween burst into the barracks. "Pack it up boy's we're moving out in ten minutes!" He said and swears all around could be heard amongst the angry soldiers. "What was that?" The corporal asked, slight annoyance in his calm expression.

"Sir, we said yes sir!" They shouted as they quickly as they began packing up their gear, checking weapons and dragging on their armor. Fween smiled and left the room to grab his own things before the shuttle arrived.

* * *

><p>"Sir, Sergeant Trace Aleei reporting, Sir" Trace snapped out quickly, yet orderly and calmly as he stood at attention before Captain Hollon, who was in A Company's makeshift Headquarters, which was really just a renovated library that had been cleared of most of it's books and furniture.<p>

"Good to see you got some sleep Sergeant" Hollon said, meaning when he had ordered the tired-then corporal-Aleei to get some rest when they had finished their last op on Piia back on Cakkiiwo II. "I have a new objective for you and your squad" He said as he turned away from several platoon commanders he had been talking to. "Your squad, along with first and fourth squad, will be assisting several Imperial Knights in apprehending a fugitive on the neighboring world of Lenniera, he's dangerous so make sure those new boys of yours are careful. Good luck sergeant" The captain said and Trace saluted before about facing and heading off towards his squads barracks.

* * *

><p>"I trust you will be able to handle this mission" Anakin said to the two of them, his holographic form staring at them intently, knowing that if they failed, then their target would have to be tracked down all over again.<p>

"Of course Sire" Lord Hethrir said.

"We will not fail you Master" Inquisitor Tremayne assured, standing next to his partner.

Anakin, light years away inside the Imperial Palace, nodded. "Good, bring him back to me, and do not let him escape again" He said coldly, then shut the connection to his agents.

* * *

><p>Scryoix sat upon his large, luxurious and very extravagant command chair aboard the <em>Ensemble<em>. Before him he could see, through the massive arrangement of viewports, the _Delicate Trident_ floating off into space while several smaller ships fled from it, heading towards his own ship. In his hands sat a small data pad with an even smaller joystick hooked onto one corner of the pad, nearest to the controls. He was idling fiddling with it before the doors behind him slid open and Navisha walked in. His second in command respectively stopped half a pace behind his command chair and awaited his orders.

"Everything has been taken care of?" He asked and guessed that her silence meant that everything had gone according to plan. "Good, now if you will be so kind..." He said and held up his data pad to her, a blue button on the controls flashing faintly. Rolling her eyes, Navisha hit the button with a single finger lightly.

Kroaaan turned to watch as the _Ensemble_ shifted only slightly in space before it's main cannon charged up and mere seconds later a bright neon blue beam shot out from underneath the vessel's bridge. The beam raced through space and crashed into the very center of the _Delicate Trident_'s belly and a long chain of dozens of explosions went off up and down the ships sides. Before those detonations even ended a larger, massive explosion went off as the engines and power core went off, adding to the massive display. At the end of the entire thing, there was only a few measly scraps of white hot metal floating slowly through space.

Crackling in delight, the pirate lord stood up and pocketed his data pad. "Keep things running smoothly my dear, I have to take care of some things" He said, ignoring the dark look the Mirialan sent him for his continuous use of the term 'dear' when he spoke to her.

Exiting the bridge, he headed to his private quarters. Once inside, he activated his holo-transeiver and stepped onto the small pad he had placed there. Minutes later and the face of the infamous Tyber Zann appeared before him. "Yes?" The crimelord demanded, apparently in the middle of something.

"You requested my presence and I told you that I would get back with you at a more proper time" Kroaaan said happily, a toothy grin covering his face as he noticed a very..._disheveled_ female in the background. "Tell Silri I said hello as well" He added, and watched as Tyber grew red in anger.

"_You_" He spat, the connection shut off and the pirate lord waited for several minutes before Tyber appeared again, looking more collected and less angry. "As I was saying before you left to do whatever it was you had to do before, I have a business proposition for you" The crimelord said. "I want to make a move against Xizor, and I have recently learned that he is shipping a large amount of spice to the Hutt Cartels from Izieo IV. If we can remove those assets from him, the Hutts will be less likely to do business with him and he will also lose a large amount of men and supplies at the same time" Tyber said and Kroaaan nodded.

"Of course, I will consider this and get back with you" He said and before Zann could object, he shut off the transceiver and the connection died.


	10. Chapter 10: Ferus Olin

_The Emperor_

_Chapter 10: Ferus Olin_

"Alright boys" Sergeant Trace Aleei said over the com inside Squad 3's helmets. "When we get planet side you stay with the precious cargo and keep your eyes sharp, get me?" He asked.

"We get you sergeant!" The recruits shouted.

Trace nodded to Corporal Fween, his only surviving squad mate from the Piia campaign. The two then turned to dealing with the pre-landing rituals of the Imperial shuttle as it shook itself silly in the gravity well of the planet as they rushed through the upper atmosphere.

"Ten till touch!" The pilot shouted and Trace, now a squad leader and a sergeant, was able to pull up BATLNT which was the Imperial Battle Network operating system. The program displayed a small map on his helmet's visor as well as the locations of the other squads and his own men's bio signatures and vitals.

"Three till touch!" The pilot shouted and the shuttle breached the upper atmosphere and flew over a very intricate and wealthy city.

"Lock and load squad three!" Fween barked and slammed a fresh battery pack into his E-11 Carbine. The shuttle touched down at the same time as the ramp lowered and the hatch shot up. Moving down quickly, they linked up with squads One and Four and found two towering, imposing Imperial knights standing there waiting for them.

"Sergeant" One of them said, he was a bit more skinny then his companion and wore a metallic cover over half his face, which included a robotic eye. "You and your squad will enter the front with me" He said. "Lord Hethrir will take the other two squads and enter from the other two entrances, here and here" He said, indicating a datapad he had. "Since you are the ranking soldier here, I expect you to be ready to face the consequences of failure...i do not like failure" The knight said as the two squads broke off with the tall blond knight.

"Of course sire, we will do as you command!" Trace answered, making sure to leave no room to question his loyalty. Imperial knights were known to kill those that weren't 'Loyal' enough to the Empire, and they could do it on just a whim. Better to not give them any ideas. "Squad Three on me!" Trace ordered over the com and the Stormtroopers, as well as the knight, moved into the theater that they had landed in front of.

"Fox, Fween" Trace said, getting the attention of two of the stormtroopers in his squad as they entered the theater through a large set of wooden double dors. "Cover the entrance, let no one in or out" He said and then continued on with the rest of the squad.

"This is bull" Fox complained as he reluctantly, almost immaturely, kicked the wall as the rest of the squad went deeper into the theater.

* * *

><p>"See anything Norz?" Trace asked as they moved through the theater, their flashlight attachments on the ends of their rifles now bright as they looked around. Norz, holding a small device which was pinging outwards, had yet to find anything.<p>

"Nothin here sarge" He said. "Looks like this place is as dead as the Jedi scum" He said, glancing around the shadows cast by the large pillars in the room.

"I would be careful what you say soldier...your words might very well become true" The knight that was with them said. "Hethrir do you copy?" He said into a comlink he had just pulled out.

"Yes I read you Tremayne. I have the fourth squad searching the basement as we speak and am now checking the rooftop with the other" The other knight said over the com. "Wait...we just lost contact with fourth squad" Hethrir said and the room became dead quite.

"MOVE!" Trace roared and ran towards one of the nearby entrances to the basement, Norz and another trooper hot on his heels. They practically vaulted down the stairs and came down to the bottom just as a vague figure decapitated the last of the stormtroopers in Fourth Squad with it's glowing blue lightsaber.

"Fire! Fire!" Trace screamed and opened up with his own E-11 carbine. The rifle shots all missed and the ones that did hit were deflected. One of the bolts went soaring past the sergeant and slammed into the shoulder of the trooper behind Norz, missing the former by a few scant inches as the latter crashed into the floor screaming in pain.

"Nooiker is hit! Repeat Nooiker is HIT!" Norz shouted over the com as more stormtroopers poured down the stairs. The figure however was already on it's way across the room to another entrance.

"Oh no you don't!" Trace shouted and ran after the figure. He barged into the staff room and scrambled up the ladder after the fleeing attacker. Between the speed the figure was fleeing at and the fact that it had a lightsaber, Trace realized suddenly that they were chasing a _Jedi Knight_ the same kind that the Emperor had declared were all supposed to be dead.

"Don't worry sarge we got em!" Fox shouted over the com. There was a distant sound of laser fire and the hum of a lightsaber.

"No dang it disengage! Do you hear me? Disengage!" He ordered over the com, realizing that his men were outmatched in this fight and that they needed one of those Imperial Knights to deal with the Jedi.

"Fox look out!" Fween shouted and then a loud, pain laced scream filled the com as Trace finally made it to the top of the ladder and, to his horror, watched as Fween, his friend, his pal, the guy whose life he had saved countless times on Piia and vise versa, cut down by a Jedi.

"NO!" He screamed and raised his carbine, letting loose a torrent of laser fire, however the Jedi blocked all of it easily and ran out of the double doors near the entrance as Fox, whose chest plate was slightly slashed as well, began removing Fween's armor to try and preform CPR on the deceased Corporal.

"Fox..." Sergeant Aleei said softly, the rest of the unit having already given chase to the Jedi as he fled the area. "He's dead...gone" He said. The man before him still pushed on the dead Corporal's chest. "His freaking right side is _gone_ Fox! Just stop!" He shouted at last and watched as the surprised private looked at the missing portion of Fween's body as if he had never known it was gone. He most likely never had. "Just...stop..." He said and Fox nodded mutely.

"He...died for me..." He said solemnly. "Oh Force he died because of _me_" Fox said and dropped his head into his hands as he sobbed.

Sergeant Trace Aleei promptly walked outside to give the man space.

* * *

><p>Outside, Trace found more of his men, as well as several from First Squad, littering the street. Obviously back up had arrived because these corpses sported blaster marks of varying size and intensity. "Sirs!" He said and came to attention before the two knights who were muttering to each other darkly.<p>

The tall, skinny Knight glared at him with his one good eye. "Fool! I told you to make sure he didn't escape! I _also_ told you I do not like failure" He seethed.

"Now, now Tremayne" The tall, bulky blond Knight said. "Master asked us to keep these men alive and killing one in rage won't help us when we ask for more men. Olin is still here on the planet, so obviously he's not long gone yet" The man concluded. He then turned to Trace. "Sergeant, contact the ship and order a planet wide lock down. It is to shoot down or capture any vessel entering or leaving the system" He ordered and Trace saluted him before turning to his task.

* * *

><p>"Hello again Tyber" Kroaaan Scroix said pleasantly as a scowling Tyber Zann appeared on his holo transceiver. "I thought about your offer and I decided...yes it would be delightfully fun to go and throw Xizor off his pedestal for awhile" Kroaaan said as Tyber nodded.<p>

"Good. I'll send you the coordinates and data for the mission within the hour" The crime lord said and Kroaaan nodded. "You had better show up" He said, his eyes narrowing before the transmission shut off.

"Do you think he knows?" Navisha, his second in command, asked from behind him. The two were sitting on the bridge of Kroaaan's flagship, the _Ensemble_, watching the stars after the transmission ended.

"Oh he knows" Kroaaan said, his cheerful attitude now gone and replaced by a ice cold calculating one as he planned out his next move. "The real trick is how to get the Xizor in on the plan without alerting Tyber to the fact that he was about to be double crossed."

"You truly area evil man" Navisha stated calmly.

"Oh you now it" Kroaaan said smugly.

* * *

><p>The clinking and dinging of fine dining could be heard in the distance as the more youthful members of the Imperial Elite moved to the dance floor. Luke Skywalker felt like he was on top of the world as he spun Mara Jade around the dance floor, both of them laughing. The upbeat, fast pace song quickly died down and turned to a much slower one that allowed Mara to fit snugly against Luke's chest as they slowly circled around the dance floor.<p>

"This is a really nice place...you did a good job" Mara whispered to him as she placed her head on his shoulder, her right ear tickling his neck slightly as he nodded.

"You helped build it too you know" Luke said with a smile as he looked around at the giant building they were inside.

The massive Temple of the Empire was Devon D'Gor's tribute to nineteen years of strong rule by the Galactic Empire. It was a massive, solid black pyramid with a large red blocky line running through the center. The very top floors of the pyramid however were solid glass, including the point at the top. Inside there was a large reception hall, a throne room, a dining hall, vault, Imperial Shrine room and a secret conference chamber. Currently, the party was being held in the first three rooms, with the Emperor and his court conversing in the throne room, the females and young children of the Imperial Elite were dining and the young adults of the Empire's most powerful families were dancing in the reception hall as the Imperial Orchestra played some of it's finest symphonies.

The marble floors and stone walls were beautifully designed with patterns of colorful stones and symbols of various worlds having been carved carefully into the walls. Where there was not a design there were tapestries and statues and paintings. The Temple was fit for a king and indeed Palptaine was using it as such, attending a party that was in fact outside the Palace was unheard of, as only military matters ever drew the Emperor out of his fortress, let alone a party.

Twirling the redhead in his arms, Luke sensed his father watch him from the throne room through the force.

_My son be careful with that girl_

_Father she is harmless, she is loyal you know that! There is nothing to fear_

_Still I feel you should not so openly project affections to someone in public..._

Luke, at that point, simply ignored his father and continue to dance with Mara for several more songs before retiring to the dining hall to eat.

"So we have a mission slated for us huh?" Mara said as she ate a delicate brown fish that had been cut into the symbol of the empire and glazed in a light sauce and sprinkled with salt.

"Yes" Luke said as he thought about the mission details. "The Emperor wants us to go to the Coltos sector and investigate a recently discovered system. He's sending us with father and a detachment of stormtroopers" Luke said, keeping his voice quiet, knowing he shouldn't be giving out information in public, but he and Mara could hear better then the average human when using the force. To most it would appear they were barely moving their lips at all.

"Any word on Nasha?" Mara asked, her eyes showing the fear she held inside her that her friend would not recover from the horrible transformation she had suffered on the Tryysk mission.

Luke's eyes clouded and he himself felt rather sorrowful. He had been in charge and she had been hurt because _he_ had wanted to go on, when _she_ had suggested they go back. "The healers are not sure yet...they won't know for some time...the effects sometimes lessen and sometimes they grow stronger..." He said, trying not to choke up. Mara gripped his hand under the table.

"Listen" Mara said, her voice ice cold, leaving no room for argument. "What happened there happened ok? Blaming yourself won't help her and it won't help you...so just...just try and not think about it" Mara said as she stood. "I'm sorry I brought it up" She added and pulled him with her. "Let's go somewhere were we don't have to be Imperial Knights and can just be Luke and Mara" She whispered.

* * *

><p>Luke had to admit, the architecture was done perfectly. From the ideal location atop one of the larger sectors of Imperial City to it's glass walls, the top of the structure provided a <em>breathtaking<em> view.

"You were right" He said, brushing his lips against the back of her ear as he held her, the two of them sitting on the floor in front of the glass wall. This section of the building wasn't required for the ceremony, so it had not been completed yet, but they were able to make do without any furniture.

"Mmhm" Mara said, leaning back into him as he brushed her ear. That felt _really_ good to her for some reason. "Now I can kiss you all I want and not have to worry about the court seeing us" She said slyly and leaned her head back, twisting just enough to capture his lips.

* * *

><p><em>Father<em>

_Yes my son?_

Palpatine sat on his throne, talking to several of the powerful moffs and politicians of the Empire while Vader stood off to the side, quietly conversing with several upper officers off the fleet. Both however were more concerned with their own conversation through the force.

_Luke and Mara left the party...their upstairs_

_I am aware, I have been watching them Anakin...well for the most part. They are young, but they are not THAT foolish. I trust young Luke to not go farther then he should._

_You are aware that he is MY son and that I went to far during the middle of an actual war with a senator. He's making out with a fellow Knight in the temple attic..._

_I trust you will intervene if things go to far_

_I HAVE been trying to intervene, but you keep stopping me._

_At the time I trusted Luke's judgment._

_Father I worry about your judgment at times..._


End file.
